Ben & Jerry's ends ice cream sale in Jew settlements, Israel warns

A new tension has cropped up between an ice cream maker and a country. The ice cream company and the country's head are the lead characters in this high powered drama full of tense moments.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has warned Unilever Plc Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope that Ben & Jerry's plans to halt sales in Jewish West Bank settlements and areas of east Jerusalem will have "serious repercussions, legal and otherwise." Bennett has alleged that the ice cream brand has taken a "blatantly anti-Israel step" and that the government would act aggressively against any boycott aimed at its citizens. The territories, captured by Israel in the 1967 War, are claimed by the Palestinians as the core of a future state.

Ben & Jerry's, founded in Vermont in 1978, has a history of publicly embracing socially progressive causes, from same-sex marriage to the Black Lives Matter movement. When it was purchased by consumer goods giant Unilever two decades ago, Ben & Jerry's insisted on keeping its own board and maintaining independence over its social mission and brand integrity. "We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry's ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the maker of flavors such as Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey said in a statement. 

The headline on the story about the announcement that ran in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz read: “Ben & Jerry’s freezes sales in settlements.” The Palestinian foreign ministry described the decision as “moral” and “legal”, according to a report by Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid condemned the decision. In a message posted on Twitter, he wrote: “Ben and Jerry’s decision represents shameful surrender to antisemitism, to BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement) and to all that is wrong with the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse. We will not be silent.”

The decision by Ben and Jerry’s follows the cancellation of a friendly soccer match between Barcelona and Beitar Jerusalem. It came after the Spanish side said it would not play the match in occupied Jerusalem. Palestinians say that Beitar’s hard-core fans have a history of racist chants, calling for the death of Arabs, and the team is the only major Israeli soccer club never to have signed an Arab player.