Israel calls Ben & Jerry's decision to stop sales in West Bank ‘immoral’

After Ben & Jerry’s announced that it was going to stop selling its ice cream in the 'Israeli-occupied' West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the move "morally wrong". According to a press note, the company said that it was “inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry's ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)".

The announcement was one of the strongest and highest-profile rebukes by a well-known company of Israel’s settlements in the region, which is widely seen by the international community as illegal and an obstacle to peace. 

It is worth noting that the West Bank and East Jerusalem have been under Israeli control since the 1967 Middle East war. More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements there. Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, however, Israel disputes this.

Following Ben & Jerry’s announcement, Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, who is a former leader of the West Bank settlement movement, said that the move was an “immoral decision and I believe that it will turn out to be a business mistake, too”. 

The Vermont-based company, on the other hand, informed that its longstanding licensee - responsible for manufacturing and distributing the ice cream in Israel - will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year. Ben & Jerry’s statement cited “the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners”. It, however, also added that it would distribute its goods in Israel through a different agreement, the details of which would be announced "when we're ready".

Israel FM calls the move ‘discriminatory’ 

Israeli politicians reacted furiously to the announcement. The foreign ministry called Ben & Jerry’s decision “a surrender to ongoing and aggressive pressure from extreme anti-Israel groups” and the company was cooperating with “economic terrorism”. The ministry said that the decision is “immoral and discriminatory,” as it singles out Israel, harms both Israelis and Palestinians and encourages extremist groups who use bullying tactics. Further, it also called on the company to withdraw its decision. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Ben & Jerry's move a "disgraceful capitulation" to anti-Semitism and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for a complete boycott of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. He said that over 30 states in the US have passed anti-BDS legislation in recent years. “I plan on asking each of them to enforce these laws against Ben & Jerry's,” Lapid said.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that Ben & Jerry's, which was founded in 1978 by best friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, has a track record of campaigning on social issues such as LGBTQ+ rights and climate change. It had also taken a stand against what it called the Trump administration’s regressive policies by rebranding one of its flavours Pecan Resist in 2018, ahead of midterm elections. The company said Pecan Resist celebrated activists who were resisting oppression, harmful environmental practices and injustice.

(With inputs from AP)