JERUSALEM, Israel – A federal judge on Monday rejected a bid by Ben & Jerry’s to block its parent company, Unilever, from moving forward with a deal to continue selling its ice cream in the West Bank – biblical Judea and Samaria – and eastern Jerusalem.
Ben & Jerry’s argued in a federal lawsuit filed in July that Unilever’s decision to sell the rights to the brand to a local Israeli company was done without approval from Ben & Jerry’s independent board and violated the brand’s “core values” of social activism. Unilever’s attorneys maintained that Ben & Jerry’s arguments were highly speculative and that since the deal was already closed, Ben & Jerry’s had no power to challenge it.
US District Court Judge Andrew Carter said Ben & Jerry’s failed to prove that Unilever’s decision would hurt the brand’s reputation or confuse consumers.
“The products sold in Israel and the West Bank will use no English trademarks, instead displaying new Hebrew and Arabic language Ben & Jerry’s trademarks,” Carter wrote in the three-page decision. “Thus, the products sold in Israel and the West Bank will be dissimilar from other Ben & Jerry’s products, mitigating, if not eliminating, the possibility of reputational harm.”
Ben & Jerry’s spokesperson Sean Greenwood responded to the decision, saying the company has “no new positions for us to share at this time.”
Ben & Jerry’s announced last year it would stop selling ice cream in “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Unilever, the company that owns Ben & Jerry’s, opposed the boycott of Israel. Unilever sold its business interests in Israel to a local company, which will now independently sell the ice cream under its Hebrew and Arabic name throughout Israel and the West Bank.
Israel applauded the move as a victory over the anti-Israel BDS movement, which advocates for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the Jewish State. The BDS movement says it seeks to “end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.” Israel sees the movement as an attack on its right to exist.
When Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, the two companies agreed that the Vermont-based ice cream maker would be free to continue its longstanding support for progressive causes like social justice and climate change initiatives. However, Unilever would have the final say on operations and financial decisions.
Unilever sold its business interests to Israeli businessman Avi Zinger and his company, American Quality Products Ltd. Zinger sued Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s in a US federal court earlier this year for ending their business relationship, saying it violated American and Israeli law.
Zinger’s attorneys said the decision by Unilever to sell its business interests was part of a legal settlement.
Zinger’s lawyer Alyza Lewin told Reuters that Unilever’s decision is “a done deal.” Unilever argued it had a right to sell its business interests to Zinger and that “the deal has already closed.”
Ben & Jerry’s decision to boycott Israel last year launched a storm of international backlash among Jewish groups and praise among Palestinian organizations.
The move appeared to take aim at Israeli settlement communities, which are a divisive issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The contested Israeli settlement communities sit on territories Israel captured from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day war. Israel captured eastern Jerusalem and considers it part of its unified capital, and the West Bank as disputed territory whose status should be resolved through negotiations. Palestinians seek the West Bank as part of their future independent state with eastern Jerusalem as their capital.
Today, some 700,000 Israelis live in settlement communities in the territories. The international community views these settlements as illegal under international law according to article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and obstacles to peace because they divide up land that could later be the site of a Palestinian state.
Israel cites the San Remo Resolution signed in 1920 after World War I as its claim under international law to settle the land. Israel also views the territory the settlements are built on as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.
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