By Mira Fox July 19, 2021

Ben & Jerry’s has historically been a very vocal advocate of social justice and environmental issues. At the top of the company’s Twitter page, a thread condemning the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is pinned. On 4/20, instead of making jokes about stoners eating ice cream, the company bought billboards to criticize racial bias in enforcement for marijuana-related crimes. Feel-good politics with a feel-good food — and their hefty cookie dough hunks — made them an easy brand to love.

But Ben & Jerry’s went suddenly silent on social media for nearly two months starting May 18, in the midst of the most recent conflagration in Gaza and Israel. That’s when an uncharacteristically nonpolitical tweet about mint chocolate chip ice cream and a recipe video on Instagram were inundated with comments condemning Ben & Jerry’s operations in Israel and the West Bank, and accusing the company of hypocrisy regarding their company values. On my own Instagram feed, posts urging a Ben & Jerry’s boycott popped up next to those condemning Israel.

Ben & Jerry’s finally broke their silence Monday morning. Days after the publication of a Boston Globe article about the social-media silence, Ben & Jerry’s announced across platforms that the company would no longer sell ice cream in the occupied West Bank would end its relationship with the local licensee that manufactures and distributes its products in the region.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Fittingly, my feed has now erupted with commentary on the decision, even more so than earlier posts about the ice-cream company’s silence. Leftist and pro-Palestinian groups including IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement celebrated the removal of Phish Food from Israeli settlements as a victory for Palestinians. Others with similar politics said that the move was long overdue, or expressed their love for the company and promised to go buy a pint.

But plenty of people aren’t happy about the announcement. Some Jewish organizations and leaders accused the company of antisemitism, while other Palestinian supporters said the company should pull out of Israel entirely. (Ben & Jerry has promised to “stay in Israel through a different arrangement.”)

Among those who have criticized Ben & Jerry’s decision are those who say that the complaints levied against the company’s operations in Israel and the West Bank do not apply to other regions, or governments that go against the company’s stated values. For example, Ben & Jerry’s continues to sell ice cream in China and North Cyprus. Some even accused the company of referencing the Hamas flag in the policy change, due to the similar shades of green backgrounds used in both the flag and the graphic tweeted by Ben & Jerry’s.

Politicians have jumped into the fray — Chunky Monkey became a major talking point for figures including Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, all three of whom took the ice cream decision very seriously, Bennett even tweeting that Ben & Jerry’s had branded itself as “the anti-Israel ice cream.”

Ayman Odeh, head of the Arab-majority Joint List, also commented on the decision, celebrating it — though with a bit more humor than the other posts. “My diet was going well until now,” he tweeted, with a photo of him enjoying a pint of Cone Sweet Cone.

The boycott movement has been asking Ben & Jerry’s to divest from Israel for years. But with several states having recently passed laws that prevent their governments from doing business with anyone who supports BDS, the decision could have larger implications for U.S. consumption of Cherry Garcia as well.

Many of those calling the decision anti-Israel, including Israeli politicians, seem to have missed the line in Ben & Jerry’s announcement saying the company would continue to sell ice cream within Israel proper, only withdrawing from West Bank settlements. (Admittedly, it does not specify the borders it intends to follow when determining Chubby Hubby distribution.) The Israeli politicians accusing the company of boycotting their country consider the settlements part of Israel, though they are not recognized as such by the United States or the United Nations, and are considered illegal under international law.

However, according to an NBC report, the line stating Ben & Jerry’s intention to remain in Israel was not approved by its board. Anuradha Mittal, the chair of the independent board which oversees Ben & Jerry’s social mission, brand integrity and policies, said that Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s parent company, released the statement without agreement from the board. This violated an agreement made when the ice cream company was acquired by the conglomerate. The statement approved by the board did not make any mention of continued operations in Israel.

Unilever continues to sell a vast array of products throughout Israel and the West Bank.

In any case, the dire tone taken by nearly everyone about punnily-named pints of ice cream filled with chunks of cookie dough, makes me feel like there’s been a glitch in the matrix. Perhaps there will be major implications for Palestinian advocacy or antisemitism. But I don’t know how these politicians take themselves so seriously when talking about Karamel Sutra.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount