Israel thanks New York for divesting from Ben & Jerry’s over its anti-Israel boycott

By Aryeh Savir/TPS

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the State of New York’s announcement that it was withdrawing its investments from Unilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, over its anti-Israel boycott.

Unilever stated in July that it was ending sales in Israel as “we believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Avi Zinger, the Israeli license owner, refused Ben and Jerry’s demand to withdraw his sales from Judea and Samaria.

New York State’s pension fund is pulling $111 million in investments out of Unilever because of the ice cream maker’s boycott of Judea and Samaria.

Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling ice cream in Judea and Samaria violated New York’s policy against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel.

“Thank you to the State of New York, which complied with our request and withdrew $111 million from its investments in Ben & Jerry’s because of the boycott of Israel. We will continue to fight BDS and anti-Semitism everywhere and without hesitation,” Lapid stated Friday.

Some 35 states in the U.S. have anti-Israel boycott laws, and so far four, including Arizona and Texas, have announced they are taking action or considering divesting from Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s parent company.

New Jersey has announced that it was on the path to follow suit, and Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and Rhode Island have launched similar proceedings.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated in July that “the boycott against Israel is a new type of terrorism, economic terrorism, terrorism that seeks to harm Israeli citizens and the Israeli economy. We must oppose this boycott and terrorism of any kind.”