B&J’s gets scooped

Brand rips Unilever’s Israel-boycott runaround

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream blasted parent company Unilever for selling the Vermont-based firm’s operations in Israel to a local licensee — effectively circumventing a boycott of Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank.

“We continue to believe it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerry’s values for our ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” Ben & Jerry’s tweeted Wednesday.

The official Twitter account of the ice cream maker founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield posted a tweet thread hours after Unilever announced its agreement to sell Ben & Jerry’s to Avi Zinger of American Quality Products.

AQP, the Israeli company that owned the licensing agreement to exclusively sell Ben & Jerry’s in Israel, paid an undisclosed sum to Unilever, effectively ending a dispute that included a federal lawsuit.

Zinger said Wednesday he will resume sales of the brand in Hebrew and Arabic throughout Israel proper as well as the West Bank territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.

“We are aware of the Unilever announcement,” Ben & Jerry’s tweeted. “While our parent company has taken this decision, we do not agree with it.”

Ben & Jerry’s continued, “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.”

Cohen and Greenfield had no comment on the sale.

Ben & Jerry’s said last year it would no longer offer products in Israeli settlements on occupied land.

Dutch-British conglomerate Unilever said at the time it had no legal right to force them to reverse course. When Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s more than 20 years ago in a deal valued at $326 million, the ice cream maker insisted its board would have autonomy on matters related to social and political issues.

But Unilever maintained the power to sell parts of the business as it deemed fit.

The boycott created a public relations headache for Unilever as pro-Israel politicians in the US announced economic retaliatory measures.

We continue to believe it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerry’s values for our ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

— Ben & Jerry’s ice cream