Unilever sells off Ben & Jerry’s in Israel to avoid West Bank row
Unilever has sold off its Ben & Jerry’s business in Israel in an attempt to extricate itself from a row over sales of the ice-cream in settlements in the West Bank.
Ben & Jerry’s independent board announced last summer that the brand would no longer sell its products in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying to do so was “inconsistent with our values”.
The decision was one of the highest-profile rebukes by a well-known brand of Israel’s settlements which are regarded as illegal under international law.
It faced heavy criticism from within Israel. The foreign minister, Yair Lapid, called it “a shameful capitulation to antisemitism” and said he would take up the issue with the more than 30 states that have legislation against the BDS movement which advocates boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli institutions and businesses.
The row prompted Unilever to launch a review of the Israeli business, leading to Wednesday’s announcement of its sale to Avi Zinger, the owner of Ben & Jerry’s current licensee for the region, American Quality Products (AQP).
Under the terms of the deal, ice-cream with the same flavours and similar artwork will continue to be sold across Israel but only using the Hebrew and Arabic version of the brand names – not the English brand Ben & Jerry’s. A Unilever spokesperson said the company would not receive any licensing income from the sale of the products.
Ben and Jerry’s board had planned not to renew the licence with AQP when it expired at the end of this year.
Unilever said it had “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. The review included extensive consultation
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