Ben & Jerry’s is suing its owner Unilever in a last-ditch effort to keep its ice cream out of the occupied West Bank.
The brand says it is inconsistent with its values to sell ice cream in a territory that it believes is illegally occupied by Israel.
It is suing Unilever over the decision to offload the Israeli portion of the ice cream business to Avi Zinger, the owner of American Quality Products, which operates the licence for Ben & Jerry’s in the country.
Ben & Jerry’s says it is inconsistent with its values to sell ice cream in a territory that it believes is illegally occupied by Israel
The sale effectively ended the boycott Ben & Jerry’s kicked off last July.
Ben & Jerry’s claims the decision could undermine its brand integrity, which the board retained the independence to protect when Unilever bought it in 2000.
It is seeking an injunction to stop the sale to ‘protect the brand and social integrity Ben & Jerry’s has spent decades building’.
Unilever said it does not discuss pending litigation but that it had the right to sell the disputed business.
Zinger’s lawyer said: ‘It’s a done deal.’