North Carolina divests $40 million from Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s Israel boycott

(JNS) North Carolina will stop its $40 million investment in Unilever, the parent company of the ice-cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s that has banned sales of its products in Judea and Samaria, and parts of Jerusalem.

The state is one of 37 in the country that has a law barring state funds from companies that boycott Israel.

“The events leading up to the divestment of Unilever were avoidable,” Dale Folwell, the state treasurer, told JNS. “Unlike others, we never divest based on threats of boycotts. We were hopeful over the last 12 months that Unilever was going to address the sanctions.”

“They were unable to do so. We don’t pick and choose which laws to apply or follow. We always monitor the need to follow the law going forward,” Folwell said.

“As tragic as the deadly terrorist attack of October was, the situation with Unilever unfolded months, if not years, before then,” he added.

In December, Ben and Jerry’s board chair Anuradha Mittal wrote on social media that “resistance is justified” for occupied people, tagging her post with such anti-Israel slogans as “Free Palestine” and “ceasefire now.”