JERUSALEM, Israel – Ben & Jerry’s continues to face blowback for its decision to stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlement communities in the West Bank – biblical Judea and Samaria.
New York state’s pension fund is pulling $11 million in investments from Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s parent company, according to the New York Post.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said Ben & Jerry’s decision violates New York’s policy opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
“After a thorough review, the New York State Common Retirement Fund will divest its equity holdings in Unilever PLC. Our review of the activities of the company, and its subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s, found they engaged in BDS activities under our pension fund’s policy,” DiNapoli said in a statement to The Post.
New York is one of several states that have taken action against Unilever. Last month, Arizona became the first state to fully divest from the company and called Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israeli settlements “anti-Semitic.”
Florida began pulling $139 million in investments from Unilever on Tuesday. Texas has threatened to do the same.
The backlash began after Ben & Jerry’s announced in July that it would not sell ice cream in what it calls “occupied Palestinian territory,” apparently referring to Israeli communities in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem. They will continue selling ice cream in those locations until their contract with local manufacturers and distributors ends in 2022.
The settlements are located on land that is disputed by the Palestinians and Israel. Leaders on both sides have said the territory’s permanent status is to be resolved through peace negotiations, but direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been suspended for years.
The Palestinians seek the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and eastern Jerusalem – territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War – as part of a future state. The Palestinians view the settlements as a major obstacle to peace and most of the international community considers them to be illegal according to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Israel cites the San Remo Resolution signed in 1920 after World War I as its right under international law to settle the land. Israel also views the disputed territory the settlement communities are built on as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.
Click to get your copy of Whose Land Is It? Jewish and Arab Claims to Israel
Ben & Jerry’s founders, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, said in a New York Times opinion piece that they no longer control the company but approve of its decision to stop selling ice cream in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.
“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.
“It’s possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies, just as we’ve opposed policies of the U.S. government,” the pair added.
Unilever CEO Alan Jope has said that Unilever is “fully committed” to doing business with Israel despite Ben & Jerry’s decision.
Unilever also said in an email that it employs more than 2,000 people in Israel and the company “rejects completely and repudiates unequivocally any form of discrimination or intolerance.”
“Anti-Semitism has no place in any society,” the company said, adding that Ben & Jerry’s will continue selling ice cream in parts of Israel “through a different business arrangement.”
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