H eadlines
Ben & Jerry’s
Continued from Page 8
and the “Occupied Palestinian
Territory,” Prime Minister
Naftali Bennett, a longtime
supporter of the settlements,
called the decision a “boycott
of Israel” and said Ben &
Jerry’s “decided to brand itself
as an anti-Israel ice cream.”
His predecessor, Benjamin
Netanyahu, tweeted, “Now we
Israelis know which ice cream
NOT to buy.”
Israeli Foreign Minister
Yair Lapid, the architect of the
current ruling coalition who
is generally to Bennett’s left
regarding the Palestinians,
went even further, calling the
decision a “shameful surrender
to antisemitism, to BDS and
to all that is wrong with the
anti-Israel and anti-Jewish
discourse.” He called on U.S.

states to take domestic action
against Ben & Jerry’s based on
state laws that prohibit govern-
ment contracting with entities
that boycott Israel.

Israeli cabinet minister
Orna Barbivay posted a TikTok
video of her throwing a pint in
the trash.

Other Israeli public figures
appeared to compare the ice
cream company’s settlement
boycott to terrorism. Eran
26 JULY 22, 2021
Cicurel, an editor at Israel’s
public broadcaster, tweeted
that the color scheme on Ben
& Jerry’s statement was similar
to that of the flag of the terror
group Hamas.

Amichai Chikli, a right-
wing lawmaker in Israel’s
Knesset, tweeted, “Ben & Jerry’s
You picked the wrong side”
and posted an infamous photo
from 2000 of a Palestinian
who had just killed two Israeli
soldiers displaying his hands
through a window, covered in
the soldiers’ blood.

In American responses, a
mirror for Israel sentiment
American-Jewish groups
offered varied responses to the
company’s scoop that mapped
to their political orientation.

The Anti-Defamation
League, a centrist group,
said it was “disappointed” by
the move, adding, “You can
disagree with policies without
feeding into
dangerous campaigns that seek to under-
mine Israel” but refraining
from calling for specific
actions. And the right-wing Zionist
Organization of America called
for a boycott of the ice cream,
proclaiming that Ben & Jerry’s
is “bad for your moral and
physical health.” The call was
Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Jerry Greenfield, left, and Ben Cohen serve ice cream following a press conference
announcing a new flavor in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 3, 2019.
Win McNamee/Getty Images via JTA.org
[Ben & Jerry’s] did this because we would not agree to stop selling ice
cream in all parts of Israel.”
AVI ZINGER
echoed by others such as the to convince kosher certifier
Jewish conservative commen- KOF-K to remove Ben & Jerry’s
tator Ben Shapiro, who said he kosher certification.

would stop eating the brand.

Ben & Jerry’s critics say they
Kosher food purveyors are not satisfied
consider practical changes
Vermonters for Justice in
Glatt Express Supermarket, Palestine, an activist group
a kosher grocery store based in Ben & Jerry’s home
in Teaneck, New Jersey, state that has been leading a
announced via Facebook that years-long campaign against
it would no longer carry Ben & the ice-cream makers for doing
Jerry’s products following the business in Israel at all, said the
company’s announcement.

move didn’t go far enough.

Aron’s Kissena Farms,
Meanwhile, CodePink, an
a kosher market in Queens, international left-wing women’s
made the same decision.

group, praised the decision for
Glatt Express did not showing that pressure works.

immediately respond to a But the group also said the
request for comment; nor did company should do more.

Morton Williams, the New
York-based grocery chain The Israeli Ben & Jerry’s
whose co-owner, Avi Kaner, licensee explains its side
also tweeted at Ben & Jerry’s.

The Israeli licensee of Ben &
His 16-store chain would be Jerry’s, which operates a factory
meeting to discuss “ending sales in the town of Be’er Tuvia, took
of your ice cream in our super- to social media hours after the
market chain,” Kaner wrote.

announcement to denounce
Access to Ben & Jerry’s the American corporation and
could be constrained another its parent company.

way: A few figures in the
The Israeli distributor called
American-Jewish right wing on Israeli consumers to continue
also began a social media push purchasing Ben & Jerry’s ice
JEWISH EXPONENT
cream, saying that the hundreds
of local workers who manufac-
ture it need their support.

In a recorded video, CEO
Avi Zinger said he had been
notified earlier on July 19 that
the company would not be
renewing his license when it
expires at the end of 2022.

“They did this because we
would not agree to stop selling
ice cream in all parts of Israel,”
Zinger said, stopping short
of specifying the distinction
between Israel proper and the
country’s settlements in the
West Bank.

“The reason they did that is
because of BDS pressure,” Zinger
continued. “We are not surren-
dering and it’s important that
you support us. I ask you all to
stand by us, help us fight because
our fight is everyone’s fight.”
In happier times for Ben
& Jerry’s-Israel relations, the
company had made a concen-
trated outreach to its customer
base with original, Israel-
exclusive flavors, including
charoset and “Matzah Crunch”
— both certified kosher for
Passover. l
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM