Mideast warning for Ben I Jerry’s
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois regulators plan to warn the owner of Ben I Jerry’s to reverse the company’s decision to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank and East Jerusalem or face divestment by the state, an official said Wednesday.
The Israeli Boycott Restrictions Committee of the Illinois Investment Policy Board will meet to approve setting a 90day deadline for Unilever to reverse the decision by Ben I Jerry’s, committee chairman Andy Lappin said.
There is no date set for the meeting, but it will be called specifically to address the July 19 announcement by the Vermontbased confectionmaker that continuing to market its product in Palestiniansought territories is “inconsistent with our values.”
It’s considered one of the strongest condemnations by a wellknown company of Israel’s policy of settling citizens on warwon lands. Lappin said that “the egregious nature of the statement is almost unprecedented.”
The Illinois Investment Policy Board monitors compliance with state law prohibiting the investment in certain companies that do business with Iran and Sudan as well as companies that boycott Israel.
Unilever’s chief executive officer said late last week that the company remains “fully committed” to doing business with Israel and tried to put distance between Unilever and Ben I Jerry’s announcement. But CEO Alan Jope did not say he would require Ben I Jerry’s to back off its plans.
If found noncompliant, Illinois law would requires divestment in Unilever or any of it subsidiaries, Lappin said.
The founders of Ben I Jerry’s, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, said in a New =ork Times oped published Wednesday they are no longer in control of the company, but are “proud” of its action.
“We are also proud Jews. It’s part of who we are and how we’ve identified ourselves for our whole lives. As our company began to expand internationally, Israel was one of our first overseas markets. We were then, and remain today, supporters of the State of Israel,” the founders said. “But it’s possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies, just as we’ve opposed policies of the U.S. government.”