Ben & Jerry's sues Unilever, accuses parent of muzzling views on Gaza war

Ben & Jerry's filed a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging that Unilever, its parent company, had silenced its attempts to show support for the Palestinians amid the Gaza war and threatened to dismantle the ice cream maker's board and sue its members.

It is not the first time relations have taken a frosty turn between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ice cream manufacturing firm sued its parent company in 2021 for selling its business in Israel to a licensee there, a move that allowed marketing and selling in West Bank settlements to continue after Ben & Jerry’s had discontinued selling its ice cream there on the grounds that it was inconsistent with the company’s values.

Unilever is a UK-headquartered consumer goods company that owns a number of food and drink brands, including Ben & Jerry's.

That suit, settled the following year, led to some investors divesting shares from Unilever. 

In the latest suit, filed in the a New York federal court, the ice cream brand accuses Unilever of violating the terms of the 2022 settlement, which has remained confidential, Reuters reported Thursday. Ben & Jerry's claimed that Unilever breached its 2000 merger agreement that gave the ice cream company control over its social message. 

Last year, a Manhattan judge threw out another lawsuit against Unilever, brought by investors claiming that Ben & Jerry’s political stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was hurting Unilever and that Unilever had not properly disclosed details about its subsidiary’s involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. 

“Ben & Jerry’s has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights,” the ice cream company's lawsuit stated. “Unilever has silenced each of these efforts.”

In a statement to Al-Monitor, Unilever said, “Our heart goes out to all victims of the tragic events in the Middle East. We reject the claims made by B&J’s social mission board, and we will defend our case very strongly. We would not comment further on this legal matter.”

Al-Monitor has also contacted Ben & Jerry’s.

Ben & Jerry’s, founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, two Jewish businessmen from Vermont, is no stranger to politics. As well as speaking out on Palestinian self-determination, the firm has also voiced left-leaning views on abortion, gun control, immigration, fossil fuel production, transgenderism, and “dismantling white supremacy” through “diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to the company’s website.

Ben & Jerry's has also been criticized by left-wing activists for ties to Israel, including having a factory in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat. The company operates in Israel under a licensee. 

The stance over the war in Gaza has divided employees, management and unions at a number of large companies and led to some businesses losing customers for appearing to support Israel. Coca-Cola, KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks and other brands have seen sales fall as a result of boycotts over their perceived pro-Israel stance. The boycotts have been particularly prominent in Muslim-majority countries.