Ben & Jerry's Loses $26 Billion after Boycotting Ice Cream in 'Occupied Territories'
'It doesn’t pay to boycott Israel'
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After Ben & Jerry’s decided to stop selling their ice cream in the so-called "occupied territories" of Israel, Unilever - their multinational owner - saw a stock drop of 20.7%, equating to an eye-watering $26 billion.
Israel Today reported that the stock drop came after numerous U.S. states withdrew their investments in Unilever due to laws against boycotting Israel.
Last year, the co-owner of Morton Williams Supermarkets in New York City, Avi Kaner, was one of the stores that responded to the boycott.
“Our supermarkets have taken action against Ben & Jerry’s, which is boycotting Jewish communities that are at the center of a territorial dispute in Israel, including the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem — inhabited by Jews for over 3,000 years,” he tweeted.
In a statement last July, Ben & Jerry’s said:
“We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT.)"
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“Although Ben & Jerry’s will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement," the statement added.
Israeli Prime Minister Neftali Bennett said the accused said the ‘woke’ company “decided to brand itself as anti-Israel ice cream.”
Israel Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked tweeted this after the stock losses:
“It doesn’t pay to boycott Israel,” and added the Bible verse, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.”
Long time graphics designer at Ben & Jerry’s, Sarah Levinson, left the company over its statement on Israel.
She told Israel Today:
“As a person who loves the Jewish people and the Jewish nation, I could not work a single moment for a company that would join up with or appease a BDS campaign.
“I have good friends and working relationships with people there, but if this is what they now represent, I cannot be part of it.”
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Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield claim they run “a values-led company with a long history of advocating for human rights, and economic and social justice.”
But despite their statement, the owner has no problem selling their ice cream in Communist China, which has killed over 65 million of its own people since 1950.
Last year, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis took action after Ben & Jerry’s ban on selling in Israeli.
DeSantis demanded the State Board Administration place Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever on the “Continued Examination Companies that Boycott Israel List.”
“As a matter of law and principle, the State of Florida does not tolerate discrimination against the State of Israel or the Israeli people, including boycotts and divestments targeting Israel,” DeSantis said.
