After facing backlash for pulling its products from stores in Israel and the occupied West Bank last year, parent company Unilever has sold its Israeli business to a local licensee. Avi Zinger, owner of American Quality Products Ltd, filed a lawsuit against Unilever in March when it declined to renew his local license after Zinger continued selling the products in the area. Now, Zinger bought Unilever’s Israeli Ben & Jerry’s assets and will resume selling the products under their Hebrew and Arabic names. Unilever hasn’t said how much it sold for, but said the company went through “extensive consultation over several months,” including with the Israeli government, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move was welcomed by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who called the decision a win against anti-Semitism. “Unilever rejects completely and repudiates unequivocally any form of discrimination or intolerance,” the company said Wednesday. “Antisemitism has no place in any society. We have never expressed any support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement and have no intention of changing that position.”
Read it at The Wall Street Journal
