Israeli leaders are furious with the American ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s for announcing that it will stop selling products in the occupied Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the US, sent letters to the governors of the 35 US states that have laws on the books against the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that calls for a global boycott to pressure Israel over its occupation and other human rights abuses.
“I ask that you consider speaking out against the company’s decision, and taking any other relevant steps, including in relations to your state laws and the commercial dealings between Ben and Jerry’s and your state,” Erdan said in the letter that he sent Tuesday, which he coordinated with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
Erdan said Israel views Ben and Jerry’s decision as “the de-facto adoption of antisemitic practices.” Lapid made similar comments on Twitter. “Ben & Jerry’s decision represents shameful surrender to antisemitism, to BDS and to all that is wrong with the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse,” the foreign minister wrote on Monday.
Lapid also vowed to contact US governors in states with anti-BDS laws. “Over 30 states in the United States have passed anti-BDS legislation in recent years. I plan on asking each of them to enforce these laws against Ben & Jerry’s. They will not treat the State of Israel like this without a response,” he said.
The anti-BDS laws, which Israeli officials lobbied states to pass, deny state funds to those who advocate for the boycott of Israel and require state contractors to sign oaths pledging not to boycott the Jewish state. The laws are a clear violation of the First Amendment and are always ruled unconstitutional when brought to court.
Vermont, the state Ben and Jerry’s is based in, does not have anti-BDS laws on the books. It’s not clear how other states’ anti-BDS laws could affect Ben & Jerry’s, but Israeli officials are exploring other ways to go after the ice cream company.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with the head of Unilever, a consumer goods company of which Ben & Jerry’s is a subsidiary. According to a statement from Bennett’s office, the Israeli leader told Unilever CEO Alan Jope that Ben & Jerry’s decision will have “severe consequences” and said Israel will take “strong action.”
The US State Department on Tuesday reaffirmed that the Biden administration is against the BDS movement, but declined to comment on Ben & Jerry’s decision. “I don’t have a reaction to offer regarding the actions of a private company. More broadly what I would say is that we firmly reject the BDS movement, which unfairly singles out Israel,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
Disclosure: Antiwar.com has received donations in the past from Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s
Any self respecting conservative boycotted lefty ben and Jerry’s years ago. Even if they start hating on Israel I still won’t support them. Or Nike or coke or Pepsi or Gillette etc etc….
For this self respecting conservative, B&G just redeemed itself.
To each his own.
Ummm Isnt this kind of interference in US Politics we excoriate the Russians for?
Hypocrisy, double standards. You know, American “exceptionalism” thingys.
Ooo. Israel is fighting ice cream companies now. The end is near. What’s next?
I can see the headlines; “Israel confronts mom and apple pie with a nuclear first strike in every direction at once.” I have a sudden desire to buy some Ben & Jerry’s… Today, as soon as the store is open, Buy Ben & Jerry’s ice cream,
I’ve already asked my wife to drop by the store on her way home from work and get me a pint of either Cherry Garcia or Tiramisu. Haven’t had Ben & Jerry’s in years.
Same here. I’d always been disappointed by their seeming leftist politics, but I’m fully in favor of supporting them for this.
Soooo…Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are now anti-Semites? Will “self-loathing” now become the new racism?
The new self-licking ice cream cone, anyway.
When an apartheid illegal state demands that a foreign power across the pond give it ice cream, things are beyond INSANE>
Zionizm is having a meltdown.
I see what you did there.
Don’t worry, the USA will always obey the commands of her little Brother ISRAHELL !!!
Have they considered air strikes?
Maybe targeting Vermont?
The new government of the pissant state is already making threats:
{Bennet} warned that Israel will “act aggressively” in response, threatening the British consumer goods conglomerate, which acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, with “serious repercussions, legal and otherwise.”
Hope the executives of that British conglomerate don’t have any skeletons in their closets, or they’ll get “Epsteined”. The arrogant swine might well resort to violence, too. They know Biden would be on their side, no matter what they did.
But USA can boycott Iran and force other to boycott Iran .
Can’t the US just add ice cream to its “strategic arms reserve” that is held in Israel?
How exactly does B&J not selling in Palestine affect Israel at all? One would think Tel Aviv would be happy that the Palestinians would be deprived of B&J products. If B&J stopped selling in Israel, period, I could see Israel’s position from that perspective, but this reaction makes no sense.
Key phrase is “Occupied Palestinian territory”.
B & J is acknowledging that Palestinians have territory.
B & J is refusing to sell products to Jewish settlers illegally occupying Palestinian territories.
I personally have been boycotting Ben & Jerry’s since 2010 or thereabouts, don’t remember the exact reason now. Today, I have thought about maybe buying B&J ice cream again.
You probably boycotted them for their open support of BLM in 2016…
“More broadly what I would say is that we firmly reject the BDS movement, which unfairly singles out Israel,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.”
Funny thing that was never an issue with BDS towards South Africa’s apartheid.
Black Lives Matter more than Palestinian Lives Matter?
Actually, the US was among the very last remaining supporters of white South Africa, and it did oppose economic measures similar to BDS.
Things remain the same. South Africa was a bad thing, and the current version of Israel is the same bad thing. The difference is that maybe Israel did not have to be this way, but it is, and reality counts.
BDS is not unfair to Israel. The State Dept is unfair, yet again.
I’ll buy some Ben & Jerry’s just to express my support for this.
The Government of Israel once again showed loud and clear that the US Government should discontinue the outrageous financial support that is given to that crime ridden, apartheid country to the tune of $10 million per day and which is supposed to be increased to $20 million per day! The mere fact that Israel presumes to tell our Government how to run its business is so outrageous that any further dialog with Israel should be discontinued.
Someone in our state department ought to explain the meaning of the English word “boycott” to Gilad Erdan.
Ben & Jerry’s just became my favorite flavor!