Florida governor Ron DeSantis has warned Unilever, the parent corporation of Ben & Jerry's, that the state will not invest any funds in the company unless they "reverse the decision to stop selling ice cream" in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a report by ABC News on Tuesday. DeSantis gave Ben & Jerry's 90 days to reverse its stance on the sale of ice cream in the Jewish state until Florida and that during that time it not invest in its parent company.“I will not stand idly by as woke corporate ideologues seek to boycott and divest from our ally, Israel,” DeSantis said in a news release.
Elsewhere, Rhode Island State Senator Elaine J. Morgan wrote to the Rhode Island Attorney General, Peter Neronha, saying that their state should "not tolerate Ben and Jerry's/Unilever's antisemitic, anti-Israel practices."Great news - Rhode Island Senator @Elaine4Senator (Elaine Morgan) pens letter to State @AGNeronha (Peter Neronha) stating RI will not tolerate Ben and Jerry's/Unilever's antisemitic, anti-Israel practices. Requests investigation. pic.twitter.com/JIdqFylyrP
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) August 4, 2021
Florida and Rhode Island are not the only US states to criticize Ben & Jerry's on their controversial decision. Texas is reportedly looking into withdrawing its investments from Unilever over the boycott.Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a statement last month that this boycott would be a bad decision for Unilever from a business standpoint, while the Palestinian Authority praised the boycott as "moral and legal."Also last month, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of the ice cream company, stated in a New York Times opinion piece that "they're proud" of the decision made to boycott Israel, despite saying that they are "supporters" of the Jewish state. Jerusalem Post Staff, Khaled Abu Toameh, and Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.