[Avodah] Tu B'Shvat "Don't Cut Your Nose to Spite Your

[Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org]

"is the tree of the field a man" - You are warring against the men,
and thus you are right (or allowed to) kill them, but is the tree part
of this war? Does it deserve to die? No! You shall preserve the trees
and most certainly not destroy them, for they are valuable and worthy
of preservation, and since they are not part of the war, you cannot
destroy them.

--- interesting the strategy in 2nd intifada, where war was made by jews 
davka on olive trees  and probably other roadside trees. as i understand, 
there were 2 rationales--  1] trees used by the enemy as cover to kill 
jews    2] land-revering enemy  esteems his olive trees almost as a 
demigod.

the rationale of 1] is pikuch nefesh. the rationale of 2] is 
demoralization of the enemy; or revenge/spite of the enemy.

the reading of the pasuk would seem to allow 1]; not  sure about 2].
does anyone know if there were any Sh'ut  about  arbocide limitations in 
guerilla war/occupation ?

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