Israel’s ice cream producers distanced themselves from the decision by the American owners of Ben & Jerry’s to cancel sales in West Bank settlements and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
Representatives of the country’s largest ice cream makers, Strauss and Osem, refused to comment on the decision or speculate as to how it would affect sales.
Israel’s ice cream market is estimated to be worth about NIS 2 billion a year. Market surveys indicate that Ben & Jerry’s has a 12-13% market share, a distant third behind Strauss and Osem, which each control more than 35% of the market. Ben & Jerry’s is widely seen as the highest quality ice cream in Israel, as well as the most expensive commercially-made brand.
Israelis fumed Monday after the American owners of the Ben & Jerry’s brand, as well as its parent company, Unilever, issued a statement saying that “it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Many, including several politicians, took to social media with videos throwing ice cream containers in the trash, or calling for boycotts of the company.
However, it soon became clear that the biggest victim of the global company’s decision was its local franchisee. Ben & Jerry’s Israel CEO Avi Zinger told the parent company that he would disobey the order and continue sales throughout all of Israel. In turn, he was informed that his license to use the brand would not be renewed when the company’s contract expires at the end of next year.
That led to calls for Israelis to support Zinger’s franchise in respect for its sacrifice.
“Have you gone crazy?” Manufacturers’ Association president Dr. Ron Tomer asked in a video Tuesday. “There is an Israeli manufacturer here who is going to lose his life’s work fighting against dictates from abroad that require him to discriminate against Israeli citizens from the territories, and you want to boycott him? We must condemn everything that Ben & Jerry’s Global does, but strengthen the Israeli Ben & Jerry’s that fought for the right to sell the ice cream to all Israelis in the country; not to boycott it and cause its collapse. We must continue to buy ice cream, and thus support and strengthen the company and its employees.”
The issue quickly became a political land mine. Golda Ice Cream, a boutique chain with branches around the country, thought it was being cheeky when it posted on Facebook: “Ben & Jerry’s, this country is too small for both of us. We are proud of our right to sell blue and white (locally-made) ice cream to all citizens of Israel.” That post got a lot of likes quickly, but the company was later forced to tone down its language and apologize to the local Ben & Jerry’s for mocking their plight.
While many are now calling on people to support Ben & Jerry’s, it is too early to speculate whether this decision will help or hurt Ben & Jerry’s sales in Israel, and the company’s competitors in Israel steered clear of saying anything they might regret.
“We’re not part of this story,” said the owner of Jerusalem ice cream chain Mousseline. “I don’t want to be happy for someone else’s misfortune.”