Ben & Jerry's Founders Defend West Bank Boycott, Parent Company Unilever Does Not

The founders of Ben & Jerry's are defending their namesake company’s decision to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement by halting sales of its ice cream in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, even as Unilever N.V. UL, the parent company of the brand, is distancing itself from this matter.

What Happened: In an op-ed piece published in the New York Times, company founders Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield identified themselves as “proud Jews” and insisted that as their “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.”

However, Cohen and Greenfield also insisted it was possible “to support Israel and oppose some of its policies,” referring the to control of the West Bank since the Six-Day War in 1967 and the annexation of eastern Jerusalem as part of Israel’s capital city.

“We are the founders of Ben & Jerry’s. We are also proud Jews. It’s part of who we are and how we’ve identified ourselves for our whole lives,” the founders wrote in the op-ed Thursday. “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 duo added that it's “possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies” just as they’ve “opposed policies in the US government.” The men said they “unequivocally support the decision of the company to end business in the occupied territories,” adding the majority of the world’s nations “has deemed an illegal occupation.”

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What Else Happened: While Cohen and Greenfield supported the boycott, which is due to take effect at the end of 2022, Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever has reached out to American Jewish groups insisting it's not behind the boycott.

New York Post reported Unilever CEO Alan Jope sent a letter to several Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, stating the company “rejects completely and repudiates unequivocally any forms of discrimination or intolerance.”

The BDS movement has been criticized for trying to make a pariah out of Israel by weakening the country politically and economically. Jope added that “anti-Semitism has no place in any society” and stressed that the boycott decision was made by a third party that licensed the brand for sale in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem.

Photo: Ben & Jerry's.