While Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed to “act aggressively” against the decision by Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling its ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories, some 92 progressive Israelis thanked the Vermont-based ice cream maker on Tuesday in a full-page ad published in Haaretz.
Under the banner "Thank you Ben & Jerry," the ad stated: "Dear Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, we are writing to let you know that in Israel there are also other opinions. Thank you for your commitment to Palestinian human rights." More than 30 of the signatories included well-known academics, notably 21 professors from Hebrew University and 11 from Tel Aviv University. Academics from Haifa University, Bar-Ilan University, the Weizmann Institute of Science and Bezalel Academy also added their signatures.
Politicians also signed, including former Joint List MKs Sondos Saleh, Iman Khatib-Yasin, Wael Younis and Jabar Asakla.
Published in English and Hebrew, the bottom of the ad notes: "This statement of gratitude is directed towards Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc. in Vermont, and not to the company's Israeli franchise," which refused the demands of global Ben & Jerry's to halt sales in Judea and Samaria that were announced on July 19.
The pro-Israel watchdog organization Im Tirtzu sharply rebuked the letter in a press release on Wednesday, expressing their belief of how severe the "BDS from within" phenomenon is.
"While tremendous amounts of resources are invested in Israel and throughout the world to combat the international BDS movement, radical Israeli professors and former politicians are undermining these efforts by promoting BDS from within Israel," Im Tirtzu said.
"There is no parallel in the world to this phenomenon of hypocrisy and ungratefulness, in which these professors and former politicians earn their living at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer, yet at the same time work to boycott and slander them."