Former head of the Yesha Council of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria Bentzi Lieberman responded to the frequent claims by far-left activists that Jews destroy olive trees belonging to Arabs by suggesting that the Arabs often do the cutting of branches actually themselves to maintain the health of the olive grove. The Arabs, Lieberman claimed, can set up what appear to be scenes of destruction.

Lieberman explained that the Arabs receive a double benefit from doing this. First, they maintain the health of their olive orchards, which they need to do; second, they might take the case to court and receive monetary compensation from the supposed destroyers. Far-left organizations often fund Arab court fees, and indeed have at times sought out Arab plaintiffs. Lieberman recounted to Haaretz that he once brought an objective tree-care specialist to examine trees that Arabs claimed had been cut down by Jews, and that observer determined that the trees had likely been cut back "to maintain the grove as is traditionally done."