Ben & Jerry's to sue Unilever over Israeli settlement sales

Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's has taken its parent company Unilever to court in another attempt to halt the sale of products in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

In July 2021, US-based Ben & Jerry's - which is owned by Unilever - announced it would no longer sell its ice cream in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, in what was a massive win for the non-violent Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

However, in June Unilever said it had "sold its Ben & Jerry's business interests in Israel to Avi Zinger... the current Israel-based licensee".

Ben & Jerry's took Unilever to court to stop the product's sale to Zinger, which allows the ice cream to be sold in illegal settlements.

After consistent attempts to take legal action against Unilever, the ice cream company will file a revised complaint in New York Federal Court in the coming weeks, according to Bloomberg.

The company said that selling products in settlements conflicts with their "core values" and that Unilever is in breach of an agreement made in 2000 when it bought Ben & Jerry's.

"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," the company's attorney Shahmeer Halepota said in a statement. 

This is the second time Ben & Jerry's has taken legal action against Unilever this year. 

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis illegally live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in settlements established in violation of international law.

Palestinians and their supporters celebrated the company's pullout from Israeli settlements last year as a win for the BDS movement.