This is a serious setback for the brand. The American ice cream group Ben & Jerry’s will again be able to be sold in the Israeli colonies in the Palestinian Territories, after the American justice rejected its complaint against the parent company Unilever to block this operation.
The company has “failed to demonstrate” that the transaction would cause it “irreparable harm”, according to the decision of a New York judge. Ben & Jerry’s declined to comment immediately.
A decision in force for more than a year
The American brand had decided in July 2021 to stop distributing its ice cream products in Israeli settlements, because it considered that it was not “compatible” with its “values”. But the holder of the brand’s license in Israel, Avi Zinger, had contravened these directives by continuing to distribute in the colonies Ben & Jerry’s ice cream produced by his factory, located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The sale at the end of June of the “commercial interests in Israel” of the parent company Unilever to Avi Zinger, definitely opens the way to a resumption of the marketing of the brand’s products, this is what Ben & Jerry’s was trying to prevent through its legal complaint. When it was taken over by Unilever in 2000, the ice cream brand expressly reserved the right to preserve its “integrity” with an independent board of directors.
The parent company’s unilateral position violated this agreement according to Ben & Jerry’s, which was not confirmed in its position by the American courts. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the news. He evokes a victory “against discrimination and racism”, reports the BBC.
A threat to “brand integrity”
Ben & Jerry’s, arguing that such an operation threatened “the integrity of the brand” and its “social integrity”, had asked on July 5 that any agreement allowing the distribution or sale of its products in the West Bank be dissolved and that any transaction going in this direction be submitted in the future to the green light of its board of directors.
Founded in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s is particularly known for its progressive commitments, from environmental protection to respect for human rights or the issue of inequality.