MONTPELIER, Vt. — Ben and Jerry’s said Monday that it will cease selling its ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem, citing “inconsistent with our values” sales in the Palestinian-claimed regions.
According to a statement posted on the Vermont-based firm’s website, the company notified its longstanding licensee — responsible for manufacturing and distributing the ice cream in Israel — that the licensing agreement would not be renewed when it ends at the end of next year.
“The concerns raised with us by our fans and trusted partners,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement.
Although Ben & Jerry’s did not expressly address these issues, a group called Vermonters for Justice in Palestine called on the business to “stop involvement in Israel’s occupation and abuses of Palestinian human rights” last month.
Ben & Jerry’s, which was founded in Vermont in 1978 but is now controlled by consumer goods behemoth Unilever, has never shied away from social issues. While many businesses avoid politics for fear of alienating customers, the ice cream company has taken the opposite tack, frequently advocating for progressive causes.
In 2018, before the midterm elections, Ben & Jerry’s rebranded one of its flavors Pecan Resist to protest what it considered the Trump administration’s regressive policies.
On Twitter, Israeli politician Aida Touma-Sliman of the Joint List of Arab Parties said Ben and Jerry’s move on Monday was “appropriate and decent.” She went on to say that the “occupied territories are not part of Israel,” and that the action is a crucial step in pressuring Israel to cease the occupation.
Israel considers east Jerusalem to be part of its capital and treats the two regions independently. Israel, on the other hand, regards the West Bank as a contested area whose status should be decided via discussions. Both territories, however, are considered occupied territories by the international world. The Palestinians want the West Bank to be part of an independent state in the future, with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Despite the fact that Ben & Jerry’s goods will not be sold in the settlements, the firm will continue to operate in Israel under a separate agreement.
The decision was dubbed “a disgraceful concession to antisemitism, BDS, and everything awful in the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric” by Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid. He stated that he will take the issue to the more than 30 states that have passed legislation prohibiting anti-Israel boycotts.
The BDS movement, for its part, praised Ben & Jerry’s decision as “a major start toward removing the company’s participation in Israel’s occupation and violations of Palestinian rights,” but urged it to go farther.
“We hope Ben & Jerry’s has realized that, in keeping with its social justice convictions, there can be no business as usual with apartheid Israel,” said the statement.