Meltdown in Israel over Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling ice cream in Palestinian territories

The Israeli government has hit back at the ice cream maker, with PM Naftali Bennett speaking directly to the chief executive of Unilever, which owns it

Israelis have come out in support of the local franchise, while factory workers fear losing their jobs

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An Ultra Orthodox Jewish man walks past a Ben & Jerry's ice cream fridge in Jerusalem, after the US company said selling their ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territories “is inconsistent with our values”. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00pm, 23 Jul 2021Updated: 8:40pm, 23 Jul 2021

Israeli Avi Zinger said the ice cream he makes usually brings joy, but Ben & Jerry’s decision to stop selling in occupied Palestinian territory has cast his factory into a political storm.

“We will continue to sell anywhere related to Israel,” a defiant Zinger said at his plant in Beer-Tuvia south of Tel Aviv, where 160 workers churn out pints of the popular ice cream.

On Monday, Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s announced it would no longer sell its ice cream in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, namely the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which have been under control of the Jewish state since 1967.

More than 670,000 Jewish settlers live in the two territories, in communities widely regarded as illegal under international law.

Arab Israeli lawmaker Ayman Odeh, whose Joint List bloc represents many Palestinian citizens of Israel, posted a photo on social media of him eating ice cream.

“The diet is going well,” he wrote, in a playful sign of support for Ben & Jerry’s move.