Ben and Jerry’s battle for Israel, long frozen, is thawed again in the war in Gaza

The years-long legal battle between Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company Unilever is making a comeback.

The ice cream company, whose brand advocates progressive causes, sparked controversy in 2021 by saying it would ban the sale of its product in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory.” This time, the company is accusing Unilever of censorship and intimidation over Ben & Jerry’s support for the Palestinians, which has intensified during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

A new lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges that Unilever sought to dissolve Ben & Jerry’s independent board and tried to prevent the brand from taking a number of pro-Palestinian positions on the war. according to The New York Times.

Under a deal to buy the ice cream maker in 2000, the British conglomerate got two of Ben & Jerry’s 11 board seats but agreed to let the company retain control of its brand and image, the Times reported. In the lawsuit, Ben & Jerry’s says it hopes to “protect the company from repeated abuses by Unilever.”

The lawsuit specifically alleges that Unliever worked to prevent Ben & Jerry’s from calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, which his board did in January — as well as from advocating for Palestinian refugees, supporting college students protesting the war, and supporting calls to end U.S. military aid to Israel.

Ben & Jerry’s has accused Unilever of threatening to dissolve the brand’s board and sue individual members if it goes ahead with its cease-fire plan. The lawsuit alleged that Peter ter Kulwe, head of Unilever’s ice cream division, and Jeff Eglash, Unilever’s head of litigation, “attempted to intimidate” board members. (Unilever separately earlier this year announced plans to spin off its ice cream divisionwhich also includes Magnum and Talenti, in 2025.)

The lawsuit also alleges that ter Kulve expressed concern about “the continued perception of anti-Semitism” if the Ben & Jerry’s board continued to advocate for Palestinian refugees.

“Unilever silenced each of these attempts,” Ben & Jerry’s said in the lawsuit. Unilever rejected these claims.

The suit says Unilever barred Ben & Jerry’s from giving a portion of the $5 million it received from the 2022 settlement to groups that help Palestinian refugees, including Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist group.

The lawsuit said Unilever specifically objected to JVP because it believed the group was too critical of Israel and because Unilever sought to remain “neutral” on the conflict. In response, according to the Times, Ben & Jerry’s pointed to financial contributions Unilever made to Israeli organizations that it said had ties to the Israeli military.

The bad blood between the ice cream maker and its parent company began in July 2021 after a previous conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, when Ben & Jerry’s announced the cessation of the sale of products in the “occupied Palestinian territory”, which is understood as the West Bank.

“We believe that selling Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the occupied Palestinian territory is against our values.” the company said. “We also hear and acknowledge the concerns shared by our fans and trusted partners.”

The brand’s Jewish founders, Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, defended the decision in a commentary in The New York Timesbut movement caused reproach from Israeli politicians and some American Jewish groups. The announcement also sparked an avalanche of legal and financial battles.

Several US states withdrawn from Unilever based on state laws fight against boycotts of Israel. In March 2022, American Quality Products, Ltd., an Israeli company that owned Ben & Jerry’s Israeli factories and distributed the product in Israel since 1987, sued Unilever over its West Bank policy.

Three months later, Unilever continued to sell its ice cream in Israel and the West Bank by selling its Israeli stake in Ben & Jerry’s AQP.

Ben and Jerry fast opposed the decisionand shortly thereafter sued Unilever to block the sale. The brand argued that the sale was made without board approval and that the halt to the sale was necessary to protect “the social integrity that the ice cream brand has built over decades.”

In December 2022 Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s settled the lawsuit. Terms of the deal were confidential, but Unilever said sales of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in Israel and the West Bank would continue.