Ben & Jerry's tries to halt sales in Israel once more

Ben & Jerry's independent board wants to stop Unilever's sale in Israel.

Ben and Jerry's. (photo credit: MORAG BITON)
Ben and Jerry's.
(photo credit: MORAG BITON)

Ben & Jerry's is back at it again, trying to stop the sales of their ice cream in Israel after a deal was struck between parent company Unilever and local Israel licensee Avi Zinger.

According to a report published by Bloomberg on Tuesday, Ben & Jerry's independent board wants to stop Unilever's sale to Zinger after the two struck a deal allowing for the ice cream to be sold in Israel. 

According to the report, the ice cream company is planning to file a revised complaint in New York Federal Courtys in the coming weeks.

The board first sued Unilever in early July and is now arguing that the sale conflicts with their "core values" and that it's breaching an agreement made in 2000 when Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's.

This comes after a few attempts

After Ben & Jerry's announced last year that they were stopping their sales in the "occupied" West Bank, they triggered a huge backlash from the Israeli government, pressuring the company to change its minds.

Unilever then decided to sell the Israel division of Ben & Jerry's. They argued that the 2000 agreement did not give them the power to challenge the deal.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Illustrative) (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Illustrative) (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

A Ben & Jerry's spokesperson said in a statement, "We will not allow our principles to be compromised for our parent company's profits."

"Unilever's feigned ignorance of the independent board's authority over Ben & Jerry's social mission stands in stark contrast with the explicit language of the merger agreement," Ben & Jerry's attorney Shahmeer Halepota said in an emailed statement.

A Unilever spokesperson has declined to comment.