On Monday, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, which is no longer owned by anyone named Ben and/or Jerry, issued a statement. Specifically:
Ben & Jerry’s Will End Sales of Our Ice Cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
July 19, 2021
We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). We also hear and recognize the concerns shared with us by our fans and trusted partners.
We have a longstanding partnership with our licensee, who manufactures Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and distributes it in the region. We have been working to change this, and so we have informed our licensee that we will not renew the license agreement when it expires at the end of next year.
Although Ben & Jerry’s will no longer be sold in the OPT, we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement. We will share an update on this as soon as we’re ready.
As you can imagine, the usual suspects went berserk. Starting with Bibi, who took time out from his important work pretending to still be Israel’s prime minister – I’m serious, just today he went directly to the CEO’s of Pfizer and Moderna to try to get them to send more vaccine to Israel because he has decided that it doesn’t matter if he is not officially the prime minister, he’s still the prime minister – to call for Israelis to not buy, as in boycott, Ben & Jerry’s.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a state-financed contract worth NIS 10,000 for annual ice cream purchases at his official residence.
Netanyahu on Thursday evidently agreed that the expense was extravagant and therefore unacceptable.
The prime minister’s decision was announced hours after a news report revealed that his bureau received special permission to commission a local ice cream shop to stock the leader’s official residence with cold treats.
No government tender was issued for the deal under the pretext that the shop carried ice cream flavors which “cater to the prime minister’s taste,” referring to vanilla and pistachio.
The Prime Minister’s Bureau stressed that the deal was nothing more than “a master contract meant to accommodate guests at the prime minister’s official residence, and did not necessarily mean the entire sum would be spent.”
No bid, off the book contract for Bibi’s favorite nom noms? Perfectly kosher! Ben & Jerry’s not making and/or selling ice cream in the West Bank, but still planning to make and sell ice cream in Israel proper? Traife! (That’s not kosher, for you gentiles. You know who you are…)
Of course everyone else had to get in on the act too.
???Ben & Jerry's say they're committed to their Israeli market but will stop selling in the occupied West Bank.
•FM Lapid calls Ben & Jerry antisemites.
•PM Bennett said actions will be taken against the company.
•Pres Herzog says it is terrorism.All scream for ice cream
— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) July 21, 2021
It isn’t terrorism.
From Reuters:
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said he spoke with Alan Jope, chief executive of Ben & Jerry’s parent company Unilever, and raised concern about what he called a “clearly anti-Israel step.” He said the move would have “serious consequences, legal and otherwise,” and Israel “will act aggressively against all boycott actions directed against its citizens.”
Hey Vermont, the phrase you’re looking for right now is “Rise and kill first!” I would definitely buy an ice cream flavor named that!
Who’s next (still Reuters)?
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, Gilad Erdan, sent letters to 35 governors whose states have laws against boycotting Israel asking that they consider speaking out against Ben & Jerry’s decision “and taking any other relevant steps, including in relation to your state laws and the commercial dealings between Ben & Jerry’s and your state.”
Erdan said Israel views the company’s decision as “the de-facto adoption of anti-Semitic practices and advancement of the de-legitimization of the Jewish state and the dehumanization of the Jewish people.”
By the way, Erdan is no longer actually the ambassador. He was terminated shortly after alternate PM and current Foreign Minister Yair Lapid took office. Several days later Erdan announced he couldn’t be fired because he’d resigned prior to being fired. At this point, why he’s even still in the US is beyond me.
Anyhow, moving along, as Charles P. Pierce likes to say, to Oklahoma…
We should immediately block the sale of all #Benandjerrys in the state and in any state-operated facility to align with our law.
— Sen. James Lankford (@SenatorLankford) July 21, 2021
Oklahoma’s anti-Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) laws, like everyone of the other 30 some odd state level anti-Boycott, Divest, and Sanction laws, are all unconstitutional because they upset Popehat.
— HatInProSe (@Popehat) July 21, 2021
And they violate the 1st Amendment.
So what is actually going on here? Something very, very simple and, to be honest, something the Netanyahu government obligated itself too. Ben & Jerry’s is now owned by Unilever, which is a large European multinational known for soap products and buying up a whole bunch of companies that make a variety of foods and beverages too. Unilever, because it has corporate offices in the EU, is bound by EU polices, rules, and regulations. Anshel Pfeffer, Bibi’s biographer, has the details:
The Netanyahu government decided not to annex the West Bank and signed an agreement with the EU which stipulated that there would be no European funding for projects in the settlements so as far as I’m concerned Ben & Jerry’s latest decision is in line with Netanyahu’s policies.
— Anshel Pfeffer אנשיל פפר (@AnshelPfeffer) July 19, 2021
Based on what Pfeffer is reporting, it appears that Unilever decided to pull Ben & Jerry’s current production agreement and license with Israel, which included it being produced in the West Bank meaning at a settlement, in order to comply with the agreement that Bibi Netanyahu’s government negotiated with the EU. According to their announcement, Ben & Jerry’s, read Unilever, plans to continue to produce and sell its ice cream in Israel proper once a new licensee arrangement can be negotiated. All that is happening here is that Ben & Jerry’s, and their EU based corporate owner, are moving to become compliant with the EU agreement with Israel that Bibi Netanyahu’s government negotiated with the EU and then agreed to.
That’s it. It’s not anti-Zionism. It’s not anti-Semitism. It’s not anti-anything. Though I’m sure the usual suspects of Ben “the wickedest of sons” Shapiro, Bari “it’s not anti-Semitism unless I say it’s anti-Semitism” Weiss, Bret “I’m calling your boss and getting you fired” Stephens, Joel “please don’t tell anyone I grew up in South Africa and my Jewish parents were anti-apartheid activists because it’ll blow my cover as a Stephen Miller style I’m Jewish, but I’m also a white supremacist schtick at Breitbart” Pollack, Meghan “my dad knew Joe Lieberman” McCain, and just about every Republican elected and appointed official – almost none of whom are Jewish and/or Israeli – as well as just about everyone on Fox News – most of whom are neither Jewish and/or Israeli – will be along shortly to continue to scream that this is the most horrible, terrible anti-Semitism that ever anti-Semitismed. Because that’s what they do. Which, of course, distracts from actual anti-Semitism. Which has been on the rise in the US and in Europe and is an actual problem. Unlike this.
Kinehora!
Open thread!
Adam L Silverman
Since it didn’t want to embed properly in the post, here’s the obligatory:
Baud
I wonder what if “Unilever Ice Cream” would taste different.
mrmoshpotato
I was wondering if they’d dragged him out of the Prime Minister’s residence yet. I guess it doesn’t matter since you evidently can’t drag the Prime Ministership(?) out of Bibi’s delusional head.
Adam L Silverman
@mrmoshpotato: They finally decamped to the family’s palatial villa in Caesaria about a week ago.
RaflW
As to Oklahoma (where, I hasten to add, I lived for about 21 months in the 1970s. Tulsa was quite lovely then. A midsize city, not-flat and treeless like OKC sort of way) this, from me, a bit ago:
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
According to this tweet reply to that Noga tweet, Unilever overuled Ben and Jerry’s Independent Board of Directors in that statement. B&J wanted to pull out of Israel entirely, but Unilever removed that language and just said the settlements:
Tweet in question
dmsilev
@Baud: It tastes half as good as the ice cream from Bilever.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Which doesn’t, in my mind, make B&J antisemtic or tErRoRiStS or something equally ridiculous.
sdhays
The Israeli right isn’t particularly concerned about real anti-Semitism. Didn’t Netanyahu’s own son get caught retweeting neo-Nazis on Twitter?
WereBear
I remember it was a squeeze-play: be driven off ice cream shelves by being outspent for the shelf space, or sell to Mega-Corp under an agreement where their workers kept their jobs.
Still, the ice cream was never the same. You can tell by the ingredients list, which got longer and more unpronounceable.
Van Buren
As of today I am refusing to sell my Miracle Ice Cream (If your cone tastes good, it’s a Miracle) in Oklahoma, so take that, Sooners!
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
Will it make your armpits look sexy?
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
My armpits are already sexy.
Ohio Mom
I’ve become ruthless about what news I follow — I can’t keep up with it all AND maintain my mood — so when I saw the headline earlier that Ben and Jerry’s are ending sales in the West Bank, I skipped on ahead. Did not seem especially critical or important to know about.
But I settled in to read Adam’s take on it because I knew I would be entertained. I was not disappointed.
Martin
I’m okay with this. Solves the Breyer retirement conundrum, and lets be honest, Popehat releases his opinions way fucking faster than USSC does. Can we make this official?
Adam L Silverman
@Martin: Works for me.
Martin
@Ohio Mom: Yeah, I just ignore this performative bullshit. Like I fucking care if Unilever gets boycotted or not. Go ahead and drive Chunky Monkey out of Oklahoma.
Keep your eye on the ball, people: voting rights.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Way TMI
Parfigliano
Never did buy Ben & Jerrys. From this date forward I buy only Ben & Jerrys.
Mary G
Thanks, Adam, this was mystifying me, but not enough to wade into the swamps for an explanation. I thought B&J/Unilever was refusing to sell ice cream to Palestinians, which a) why would the right wing care and b) do Palestinians really have enough disposable income to buy premium ice cream? Knowing that it’s manufactured by the settlements and the decision is due to the EU explains it all. Like Martin says, shiny object. Now I want ice cream.
The Other Bob
I am confused how this helps the cause if they still sell in Isreal? Shouldn’t they boycott both areas?
In my mind I am comparing it to the boycotts of S. Africa in the 1980s.
Adam L Silverman
OT: If Steve In The ATL shows up or if someone sees him in comments later on if I’m not around: please tell him to check his email!
Thanks!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Martin:
Don’t something like 30 states have so-called anti-BDS laws? That seems like a lot of big markets to piss off. Might be why Unilever slid in this language to B&J’s press release: “we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement”
karensky
@Ohio Mom: Ditto!
Jon Marcus
What goes into “Rise and Kill First”-flavored ice cream? At least some chocolate, I hope.
Adam L Silverman
@The Other Bob: Because it isn’t really a boycott. Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s corporate owner, simply wants to bring the licensing and distribution in Israel in line with the EU regs that Bibi’s government negotiated and agreed to. That means their products can’t be made in settlements in the West Bank nor can they be sold there. Within Israel proper is fine.
Adam L Silverman
@Martin: When I write about the serious stuff everyone gets upset. So you either get these types of posts or nothing.
(This is not directed specifically at you, just a general recognition of why I’m only doing posts on stupid topics these days)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Adam L Silverman:
It seems like members of the Board of Directors for B&J wanted to not sell in Israel as well, before Unilever weighed in
Martin
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I could care less what Unilever does. They’re big boys, they can lobby for themselves, they don’t need us.
And they’re trapped between complying with an Israeli law and Israeli politics? If I were CEO I’d say ‘ok, you guys figure out what the fuck you want us to do, but we’re pulling all of Unilever out until you figure it out.’
This performative bullshit only serves to piss off the customers, so let them be pissed off. Give them good reason to be pissed off. Make is so you can’t buy your kids favorite ice cream. See how well that helps you with voters.
dexwood
@Adam L Silverman: Everyone!!? Now I’m upset! /s
Mike in NC
It’s only Wednesday yet here we have both a War on Vaccines and now a War on Ice Cream.
Old School
@Jon Marcus:
Well, Ben & Jerry’s would have to make it into a pun on the flavor. Perhaps, “Pies and Kill First”?
Chief Oshkosh
@Adam L Silverman:
1. Really? I wasn’t aware of that (but I’m not a very sensitive guy).
2. Really? Can’t believe people would be upset about your posts.
3. Really? Why do you care if someone gets upset on a left-ish political blog? It’s a a left-ish political blog — we’re all upset all the time about everything. ;)
4. I say, “Bring back the posts on serious shit, Adam!”
5. But isn’t ice cream serious?…
Omnes Omnibus
@The Other Bob: It’s not a boycott.
Martin
@Adam L Silverman: Well, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten upset at you for the serious or unserious stuff, and I can’t imagine I would. As far as I’m concerned your cryptic warning pre 1/6 (which I recognize a lot of people jumped on you for doombringing) tells me we should be better listeners here.
jnfr
I worked in and around natural food co-ops for a couple decades. Every small food business that started back then eventually got bought out by a big food corp.
I still love Cherry Garcia.
Adam L Silverman
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): That may be, but it isn’t their decision. It’s Unilever’s.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: When you write about serious things, people sometimes disagree with you.
Adam L Silverman
@dexwood: You know what I meant. Not directed at any specific commenter.
taumaturgo
Boycotts by powerful corporations and sanctions are dangerous for rogue governments that flaunt international law at their leisure. This is how the South Africa apartheid regime began to unravel, this is probably why the current Israeli administration’s hysterical reaction. Anti-cancel conservative culture canceling ice cream. Yikes. In our own backyard, there is work to be done to repeal the unconstitutional anti-boycott laws.
Adam L Silverman
@Martin: Again, not specifically directed at you. Not directed at you personally. Just the way your comment was worded provided me a landing pad for that caveat.
MJS
I’m so confused. According to Republicans like Lankford, it’s sometimes okay to refuse to sell goods and services to certain people (see gays; wedding cakes), but other times, not okay (see Palestinians (?!); ice cream).
ryk
Sort of off topic. The wife and I used the same bar soap made by Unilever (Lever 2000) for about twenty years. Then, a few years ago, they completely changed everything about it, the packaging, the shape of the bar and most importantly the formula. I don’t know why they even bothered keeping the name. The new formula wouldn’t even lather up on a washcloth. We ended up throwing away 7 bars of an 8 bar package. It really chapped my ass. Now I try not to buy anything from Unilever. I am saddened to see they own Ben & Jerry’s. tl;dr fuck Unilever
Cameron
Nobody’s had a Wallace Stevens moment yet?
Another Scott
@Martin: Chunky Monkey used to be my favorite. These days, I hate to get it because there’s almost no chocolate and walnut chunks in it. :-(
[/first-world-problems]
Still, it’s better than most of the other stuff out there that has far too much air, and who knows what else, in it…
Cheers,
Scott.
dr. bloor
This is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to an Oberlin Student Coop battle on the world stage. I wonder what Ben and Jerry think of the tiger they’re trying to climb off of today?
Splitting Image
@Adam L Silverman:
I’ll just point out that right-wingers co-opting anti-semitism as a wedge issue while they march in the streets saying “The Jews will not replace us” is not a trivial issue.
(Not that you don’t know that already; it just bears repeating.)
Mike in NC
On a positive note, as of today Trump’s rotten adult children do not have Secret Service escorts. They must be relieved not to have to babysit those creeps.
Adam L Silverman
@Splitting Image: No arguments. I was more referring to the ice cream stupidity.
glc
@Martin: Wait, Unilever is phasing out Breyers™ ?
P.S. More seriously, did not know about the EU agreement. Puts an interesting twist on the whole business.
WereBear
It once was made with love…
Actually, a lot of the competition doesn’t even qualify as ice cream now! It’s labeled “quiescently frozen dessert.”
No. And not even thank you.
Cameron
@WereBear: Or “dead milk.”
A Ghost to Most
All this foolishness, violence, and death, fighting over the same imaginary sky fairy.
Cameron
@A Ghost to Most: I liked their ice cream back in the day,but I’ve never regarded either Ben or Jerry as a deity.
Mathguy
My first read of the reaction of the finance minister et al tweet was, “Hmm, The Onion’s pretty amusing today.”
gvg
I took the headline to be anti Palestine and couldn’t understand why Israel would fuss.
What is the reason EU doesn’t want things made in the Palestine territories? Is it forced labor or just don’t let the occupiers profit? I seem to be woefully uninformed.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cameron: oblig.
debbie
Have either Ben Cohen or Jerry Greenfield commented on the richness of being labeled anti-Semitic? (I don’t want to hear any b.s. about technicalities like not being part of the company anymore; their names are on the product.)
gvg
@WereBear: My father is a lifelong ice cream addict. It may kill him eventually. He is a diabetic now. Very skinny because of an ulcer operation 40 years ago that left him with half a stomach and hating most food because he feels so bad after eating, but for some reason ice cream mostly didn’t bother him. He needed the calories. Anyway, he has discovered he can tolerate ice cream that is made with cane sugar but not high fructose corn syrup. Ben and Jerrys doesn’t qualify. He likes an organic generic from our local chain Publix. All the expensive ones are not as good.
Oddly enough I barely like ice cream.
Miss Bianca
Man, I must really be out of it – I had no idea this was happening.
Kent
Things made in the occupied Palestinian territories by Palestinians are just fine. The objection is to things made in the occupied territories by Jewish companies connected to the occupation. Who are profiteering from stolen land and exploited labor
And we probably aren’t talking about ice cream sold to Palestinians. We are probably talking about ice cream sold to Jewish settlers in their upscale shopping centers and ice cream shops. Ben and Jerry’s was probably part of the normalization of occupation in some small way.
OzarkHillbilly
Had to go to wally world this afternoon and just because of the conservative freak out over this whole nothing burger I went to the ice cream cooler to get the wife a couple pints of B&Js. Then I looked at the price. Nope. I mean I’ll do most anything to piss on Republicans but almost $4 for a pint? Naaaahhhh…
Kent
Not all of them. I have a cousin who works for Bob’s Red Mill. They are still employee owned and going strong. https://www.bobsredmill.com/employee-owned
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
$4 is a super reduced on-sale price here. $7 regularly.
Central Planning
@NotMax: Our local Wegmans is charging $4.49 for a BJ
dr. bloor
@Central Planning: You can get every damn thing at Wegman’s, can’t you?
WhatsMyNym
Ben and Jerry had both left the business before Unilever bought it.
Unilever have been cleaning up their ingredient list for the past few years. You can review the ingredients for most of their brands products online at the brand’s website.
jnfr
@Kent:
Hey, good catch! And excellent to hear.
WereBear
@gvg: I’m glad he at least can find a food he can eat :(
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Can somebody tell me how an anti-boycott law would even work? Is it against the law now for people in those states not to buy anything made in Israel, or for businesses not to do business with Israeli companies? How do they define a boycott? I mean, I’m effectively boycotting Israel, because I don’t buy anything made there. Would I be in trouble in Oklahoma? How do they think they’re going to enforce this? Spot checks in everybody’s houses? I don’t get this.
Kent
No one cares what you buy or don’t buy. The laws are targeted at boycott organizers. So if you are actively campaigning for a boycott on social media, in the press, or whatever. Then you could be prosecuted or sued by the company in question as the case may be. It would work similar to libel laws or defamation.
billcinsd
@Central Planning: I would have guessed 5 bucks, just like in town
trollhattan
@taumaturgo:
If they’re flaunting international law at their leisure, it’s probably to show off the frilly lacy trim.
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
I see what you did there. Very droll.
J R in WV
@Chief Oshkosh:
I’m with the Chief… more complex stuff, please, Adam!
After all, Ice Cream is complex ~!!~
J R in WV
deleted
Ruckus
@MJS:
When you lie constantly and yet inconsistently, when you pull U turns on policy for no apparent reason other than one of those policy positions was freaking insane – and it’s usually the one you pivoted to, when you have no idea what any one of those pivots is going to do, you must be a conservative.
Is that less confusing?
Nutmeg again
Just, “a meltdown” in the ice cream world. Really Sen. Lankford??
Kristine
@WereBear:
Same thing happened to Talenti’s gelato.
RaflW
@Chief Oshkosh: Hear hear on points 1-4. I really had no idea Adams serious posts were problematic.
Ice cream, however, IS unserious. Yet essential. And so good.
Tom V
Ben and Jerry’s will have a new flavor for Israel: “NuttyYahoo!”.