No boycott: Ben & Jerry’s stays on menu in Israeli settlements

Ben & Jerry’s will continue to be sold in Israel and the West Bank, after the Israeli franchisee bought the rights from parent company Unilever

An Israeli business has acquired the right to produce and sell Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and the West Bank under Hebrew and Arabic names.

The agreement follows a year of legal battling, which began after last year’s Gaza War, when Ben & Jerry’s said it would no longer allow its ice cream to be sold in Israeli settlements.
Israel and its supporters hailed the decision as a major victory against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Parent company Unilever has sold its Ben & Jerry’s business interests in Israel to Avi Zinger, the Israeli manufacturer and distributor of the brand, who will now be independent.
Zinger and his company, American Quality Products (AQP), has also acquired the exclusive rights to the Ben & Jerry’s logo in Hebrew and Arabic, but will cease using the English branding.

“Avi Zinger is able to and has the right to continue selling the same Ben & Jerry’s ice cream he’s been selling for 35 years in those areas forever, in perpetuity. It’s his,” said Alyza Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which represented Zinger.

“Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont no longer has any authority over Avi. They can’t stop him from selling Ben & Jerry’s ice cream,” Lewin said.

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Ben & Jerry’s Israel, parent company Unilever reach deal to end settlement boycott (Times of Israel)

Photo: Ben and Jerry's ice cream (Flickr)