Both sides announced Wednesday that Ben & Jerry’s Will continue to be sold in Israel and the West Bank after the Israeli franchise struck a deal with the ice cream maker’s parent company Unilever, a settlement that followed a year-long legal battle. The boycott came after a legal battle.
Israel and its supporters hailed the decision as a major victory against the anti-Israel Boycott, Partition and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Unilever has sold its Ben & Jerry’s business interests in Israel to Israeli manufacturer and distributor of the brand Avi Zinger, and will allow the product to be sold under its Hebrew and Arabic names in Israel and the West Bank. Ginger previously operated under the umbrella of Unilever.
Following last year’s May war between Israel and Gaza terrorist groups, Ben & Jerry’s said it would no longer allow its ice cream to be sold in Israeli settlements, igniting criticism and setting off a series of major splits at Unilever. As did many US states. Laws against the anti-Israeli BDS movement.
Ginger then Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever sued in US federal court in March, claiming the companies had illegally terminated their business relationship with him.
Unilever and the Brandeis Center, which represented Ginger, announced on Wednesday That they had reached an agreement to settle the matter.
The UK-based group said it had “heard the perspectives on this complex and sensitive matter” and had consulted with the Israeli government.
Trucks are parked at Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory in the Beer Tuvia industrial area on July 20, 2021.
The company said it rejects anti-Semitic sentiment and employs about 2,000 people in Israel at four manufacturing plants. In addition to Ben & Jerry’s, the company sells a range of other products, including Strauss ice cream, in Israel and the West Bank.
“This is a victory for those who seek cooperation and coexistence, and a resounding defeat for discrimination. This is especially important for those who have united against the BDS,” Zinger said in a statement. Told.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the decision and thanked Unilever.
“The anti-Jews will not defeat us,” said Lapid. “Today’s victory is for all those who know that the struggle against BDS is first and foremost a means of partnership, dialogue and furthering the ongoing struggle against discrimination and hatred.”
“We will fight against illegalization and boycott movements everywhere,” Lapid said.
The boycott was announced after a massive pressure campaign by anti-Israeli and progressive activists. The decision caused an uproar in Israel and some American Jewish groups, many of whom called it anti-Semitic, as the company has no boycotts against any other region of the world.
Pro-Israel protesters protest against Ben & Jerry’s, over anti-Semitism and anti-Semitism, in Manhattan, New York City, on August 12, 2021. (Luke Trace/Flash 90)
Zinger’s lawsuit against Unilever argued that the West Bank boycott violated US and Israeli law, and since there is no legal mechanism to continue doing business in violation of those laws, the move was against the entire Jewish state. Illegal exclusion amount. He and his company, American Quality Products (AQP), refused to comply.
The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey, requested that a US federal court deemed Unilever’s move illegal, and enabled AQP to continue selling Ben & Jerry’s products throughout Israel and the West Bank. It also sought a jury trial and damages. The lawsuit claims that the company also violated several US laws that prohibit anti-Israel boycotts, as well as several state laws.
The firm filed suit in the US District Court of New Jersey, the state in which Unilever’s US branch is headquartered. It is a subsidiary of Konopco, Inc., another US arm of the UK-based multinational company Unilever. was also filed against
The West Bank boycott of Ben & Jerry’s has caused headaches and huge repercussions for Unilever. At least six US states disinvested a total of hundreds of millions of dollars from Unilever because the move violated anti-boycott laws.
Critics of the West Bank say Ben & Jerry’s sells products to states with atrocious human rights records, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran and China. The company also sells in other disputed areas including Tibet, Crimea, Western Sahara and Kashmir.
Supporters of the Boycott Israel movement say they are using nonviolent means to protest unjust policies towards Palestinians, urging businesses, artists and universities to break ties with Israel. Israel says the movement hides its motives to outlaw and destroy the Jewish state.
Zinger and AQP were represented by attorneys at the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law; Greenberg, Dauber, Epstein and Tucker; Levine & Levine, LLP; and Zell, Aaron & Co.
