News

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream will continue to be sold in Israel and West Bank

Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, has announced that the ice cream will continue to be sold throughout Israel and the occupied West Bank. Last summer Ben & Jerry’s claimed that it would end its business in the “occupied territories” by the end of this year because it was “inconsistent with our values.”

Unilever sold the Israeli branch of the Vermont-based brand to Avi Zinger, owner of American Quality Products. Zinger can now sell the ice cream under Hebrew and Arabic names throughout the region, including the illegally occupied West Bank. Zinger openly celebrated the purchase as a victory against the BDS movement. “There is no place for discrimination in the commercial sale of ice cream,” he said. “BDS lost. I now have the right to sell Ben & Jerry’s using its Hebrew and Arabic name… forever. This is a victory for those who seek cooperation and coexistence, and a resounding defeat for discrimination.”

The group Vermonters for Justice in Palestine (VTJP) had been leading a campaign against Ben & Jerry’s for over a decade when the company finally announced they were taking action in July of 2021 in the wake of the Israeli assault on Gaza that spring. Activists were not content with the company simply pulling out illegal settlements, as they wanted their business with Israel to be severed altogether. “Don’t get me wrong, this is a very positive step but I’m trying to understand how we can imagine the relationship between Ben & Jerry’s and BDS laws in Israel,” VTJP’s Wafic Faour told Mondoweiss after the announcement. “I’m wondering how they’re going to continue operating in the area..So we have more questions than answers here. We don’t know what will happen.”

In an op-ed in the New York Times Ben and Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield framed the decision as one of corporate responsibility, but made it clear that they don’t support the BDS movement. Such caveats failed to generate any discernible goodwill. The company was attacked by politicians in Israel and the United States. Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Colorado even moved to divest state shares from Unilever over the move.

Orna Barbivai, Israel's minister of the economy, trashes a pint of Ben & Jerry's to denounce its decision to stop selling in occupied territories. Barbivai is in the centrist Yesh Atid Party embraced by liberal Zionists. Screenshot.
Orna Barbivay, Israel’s minister of the economy, trashes a pint of Ben & Jerry’s to denounce its decision to stop selling in occupied territories in 2021. Barbivai is in the centrist Yesh Atid Party embraced by liberal Zionists. Screenshot.

When Unilever acquired the ice cream manufacturer over twenty years ago, Ben & Jerry’s was able to maintain an independent board with the aim of upholding its progressive values. Now the two entities are clearly conflicted. Even if members of the board oppose Israel’s illegal settlements, they seem unable to stop their parent company’s new decision.

“We are aware of the Unilever announcement,” said Ben & Jerry’s in a statement. “While our parent company has taken this decision, we do not agree with it. Unilever’s arrangement means Ben & Jerry’s in Israel will be owned and operated by AQP. Our company will no longer profit from Ben & Jerry’s in Israel. We continue to believe it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerry’s values for our ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Unilever put out a statement saying that it “used the opportunity of the past year to listen to perspectives on this complex and sensitive matter and believes this is the best outcome for Ben & Jerry’s in Israel.” It also reiterated its opposition to BDS: “We have never expressed any support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement and have no intention of changing that position.”

A representative for “Activist investor” Nelson Peltz, who is scheduled join Unilever’s board next month, praised the decision. Peltz is on the board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which tagged Unilever as antisemitic last year. “Respect and tolerance have prevailed,” declared Peltz’s spokesperson.

Wafic Faour told Mondoweiss that this news demonstrates how people continue to deny the existence and struggle of the Palestinian people. “If you say anything, you’re labeled as antisemitic,” he said. “The struggle will continue. Americans, specifically young Jewish Americans, are waking up and speaking up, and they refusing to let these organizations represent them.”

8 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Boycott Ben ane Jerrys…besides there are so many other good ice cream brands in the supermarkets.

Most probably Israel’s attack dogs have got to them, threatened them, and “convinced” them, to do otherwise. We have heard this story before many, many times.

“This is a victory for those who seek cooperation and coexistence, and a resounding defeat for discrimination.”

Israeli Zionists, always perfecting empty platitudes and the very embodiment of hypocrisy. They never fail to disappoint.

Cooperation and coexistence my backside. I wonder if he cares about all those Palestinians being chased out of their homes and land.

So, B&J doesn’t do business or make money in Israel. Israelis and Palestinians continue to buy and eat B&J ice cream. Unilever resolves an obnoxious PR and legal problem. Everyone wins. Sounds like this one was resolved in a creative and productive way.

Now is a time for us to have restrospection. The disenfranchisements of the Jewish and Arab population of Judea and Samaria is not legal or moral. And nobody can say I will sell to Jews that live here, yet not here. At the same time, let us use this debacle to say thanks that there can be a new and reborn ben and jerry’s with it’s own social mission, in Judea and Samaria. With the total obliteration of the BDS movement, as we have seen here, we can work together on new solutions together, that keep in mind the rights of native Jews and Arabs both in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.