90 Israeli Lawmakers Send Letter Urging Ben & Jerry's West Bank Boycott Reversal

By i24
Posted on 07/28/21 | News Source: i24

Knesset members from across political spectrum sign letter slamming decision to end sales in West Bank

A group of 90 Knesset (Israel Parliament) members from across the political spectrum on Wednesday sent a letter to Ben & Jerry's parent company Unilever demanding a reversal of the decision to not sell ice cream in the West Bank.

The letter, initiated by MK Meirav Ben-Ari from the Yesh Atid party, was addressed to Alan Jope, Unilever's global CEO.

The letter denounced the "shameful actions" to cease selling Ben & Jerry's products in the West Bank, referred to in the letter as Judea and Samaria, the biblical term for the region officially used by the Israeli government. The international community officially calls the territory the West Bank.

"This decision to boycott towns and cities in Israel as well as the company's attempt to force this boycott practice immediately on the Israeli manufacturer is an immoral and regrettable decision that harms all residents of Judea and Samaria, as well as hundreds of Israeli workers, Jews and Arabs alike," the letter stated.

Ben-Ari on Twitter said that the diverse group that signed the letter includes "coalition and opposition, ultra-Orthodox, Druze, religious, secular, right and left."

Ben-Ari said that on Sunday she met with the CEO of the Ben & Jerry's factory in Israel, Avi Singer, and told him that "we would do everything we could to help him and his 160 employees."