Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid demanded the United States take action against Ben & Jerry’s, an ice cream company known for exhibiting the political intelligence one would expect from an ice cream company, over their decision to no longer sell products in what they called “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” apparently referring to Judea and Samaria.
Lapid claimed the decision was similar to the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, and pointed out that dozens of states have passed legislation against BDS.
“Ben & Jerry’s decision represents shameful surrender to antisemitism, to BDS and to all that is wrong with the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse. We will not be silent,” Lapid tweeted.
“Over 30 states in the United States have passed anti-BDS legislation in recent years. I plan on asking each of them to enforce these laws against Ben & Jerry’s. They will not treat the State of Israel like this without a response,” Lapid added.
Lapid’s comments come after Ben & Jerry’s ice cream announced they would no longer sell ice cream in “Occupied Palestinian Territory” on Monday.
“We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT),” the ice cream company wrote. “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,” the ice cream company continued. “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,” the ice cream company wrote. “We will share an update on this as soon as we’re ready.”
