Judge rejects Ben & Jerry's bid to block ice cream sales in east Jerusalem and Israeli-occupied West Bank

A federal judge on Monday rejected a request by Ben & Jerry's to block a plan by its corporate parent to allow its products to be sold in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank against the wishes of the Vermont ice cream maker's independent board of directors.   U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Carter said Ben & Jerry's failed to show that the decision by London-based consumer goods conglomerate Unilever would hurt Ben and Jerry's social mission or confuse its customers.   In his three-page decision, Carter said that the harm Ben & Jerry's was claiming was "too speculative."   "The products sold in Israel and the West Bank will use no English trademarks, instead displaying new Hebrew and Arabic language Ben & Jerry's trademarks," the decision said. "Thus, the products sold in Israel and the West Bank will be dissimilar from other Ben & Jerry's products, mitigating, if not eliminating, the possibility of reputational harm."

Ben & Jerry's spokesman Sean Greenwood said Monday that the company had "no new position for us to share at this time." 

Ben & Jerry's complaint in the case filed last month outlined the company's tradition of social activism over its 44-year history, including opposition to U.S. nuclear weapons spending in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, supporting LGBTQ+ rights and farmers. That activism continued after it was purchased by Unilever in 2000 with the focus on, among other issues, migrant justice and climate change. In the aftermath of the 2020 death of George Floyd, Ben & Jerry's became an advocate for Black Lives Matter.