Reactions in WB, Jerusalem to Ben and Jerry's ban

Officials and residents reacted to an announcement by icecream company Ben & Jerry's after it said it would stop selling its products in Israeli-occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem.

Ben & Jerry's has said that sales in the territories sought by the Palestinians are "inconsistent with our values."

The announcement was one of the strongest and highest-profile rebukes by a well-known company of Israel's policy of settling its citizens on war-won lands.

The settlements are widely seen by the international community as illegal and obstacles to peace.

The company informed its longstanding licensee — responsible for manufacturing and distributing the ice cream in Israel — that it will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year, according to a statement posted on the US-based company's website.

Founded in the US state of Vermont in 1978, but currently owned by consumer goods conglomerate Unilever, Ben & Jerry's has not shied away from social causes.

While many businesses tread lightly in politics for fear of alienating customers, the ice cream maker has taken the opposite approach, often espousing progressive causes.

Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, which represents settlements in the northern West Bank called on customers to boycott Unilever.

Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the decision "a shameful surrender to anti-Semitism."