Brothers arrested for felling tree at Paris memorial to murdered French Jewish man

Suspects, reportedly of Tunisian nationality, to be tried in fast-track process for desecrating monument, according to public prosecutor’s office

PARIS — French authorities have arrested twin brothers over the cutting down of an olive tree planted in memory of Ilan Halimi, a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006, prosecutors said Wednesday.

An olive tree, planted in 2011 in Halimi’s memory, was felled earlier this month in the northern Paris suburb of Epinay-sur-Seine, in an act that stirred outrage in the country.

The suspects are to be tried immediately in a fast-track process for the racially or religiously aggravated desecration of a monument, the public prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny said, confirming a report in French magazine Paris Match.

It was not immediately clear when they had been arrested or precisely when the trial would take place. Their identities were also not made public.

Paris Match reported that both men were of Tunisian nationality and did not have a permanent address. It said they had been identified through DNA.

Politicians across the political spectrum condemned the act as an attack against the memory of Halimi, who was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 youths in January 2006 and tortured in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, the 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.

A man lights a candle near a picture of Ilan Halimi, on February 13, 2019, in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, during a ceremony in his honor two days after two trees planted in his memory were found vandalized. (Bertrand Guay/AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the felling of the tree, vowing punishment for what he called an act of antisemitic “hatred.”

The incident stoked fresh concerns about an increase in antisemitic acts and hate crimes in France as international tensions mount over Gaza. France’s Jewish community — one of the largest in the world — says the number of antisemitic acts has surged following the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, which was followed by Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip and aid blockade.

Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a stinging letter to Macron last week, saying his move to recognize a Palestinian state “emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.”

Officials pledged to plant a new tree at the memorial to Halimi “as soon as possible.” The tree was also felled in 2019 in an antisemitic incident, and a plaque in his memory was vandalized in both 2017 and 2015.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.