June 9, 2023

Silicon Business

Business 500

Ben & Jerry’s sues its parent company over the sale of its Israeli business

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Ben & Jerry’s is suing its dad or mum enterprise right after the sale of its Israel enterprise to a local licensee, effectively circumventing the ice cream maker’s boycott of the place.

On June 28, the mum or dad corporation, Unilever, marketed the Israel small business of Ben & Jerry’s to operator American Good quality Products for an undisclosed sum to “guarantee the ice product stays offered to all people.”

Ben & Jerry’s has sought to end revenue of its products and solutions in the occupied West Financial institution and the annexed east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as the funds of a long run unbiased point out that includes the West Lender and the Gaza Strip — also captured by Israel in 1967.

NBC Information initially noted the firm’s withdrawal from Israeli settlements past summer.

The newest match, filed Tuesday in New York Metropolis, states the sale was not permitted by Ben & Jerry’s unbiased board of directors. According to the filing, the enterprise is searching for “to protect the model and social integrity Ben & Jerry’s has spent a long time creating.”

CNBC documented Tuesday that a judge had already denied the ice product maker’s application for a short-term restraining order but nonetheless ordered Unilever to exhibit cause by July 14 for why a preliminary injunction versus the sale should not be issued. 

In a assertion, Unilever claimed that “the deal has currently closed” and that it would not comment on pending litigation. A Ben & Jerry’s agent did not reply to a request for remark.

Previous week, Ben & Jerry’s tweeted about its opposition to the sale. It mentioned it would no more time earnings from Ben & Jerry’s in Israel.

“We keep on to imagine it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerry’s values for our ice product to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” it stated.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid mentioned in a assertion the Israeli governing administration issued after previous week’s sale announcement: “The antisemites will not defeat us.

“Even when it arrives to ice cream. We will battle initiatives to delegitimize Israel and the boycott motion in all its kinds, no matter whether it be economic, cultural, or philosophical.”

The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions motion, or BDS, modeled on the boycott marketing campaign towards apartheid South Africa, aims to convey economic tension to bear on Israel around its armed service profession of lands the Palestinians want for a upcoming point out.

Avi Zinger, the operator and CEO of American Quality Products and solutions, said in a assertion that the sale by Unilever “ensures the sale of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream made in Israel” through the state, “which includes Judea and Samaria” — the names some in Israel use to refer to the West Lender.

“The settlement we signed with Unilever is shut, accredited, and final,” Zinger reported.



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