Shurat HaDin an Israeli NGO has purchased the Ben & Jerry trademark in West Bank settlements and Jewish areas in east Jerusalem so that it can produce and sell icecream in the area.
Shurat HaDin stated that this was possible because global Ben & Jerry’s as well as its parent company Unilever has announced plans for a boycott of Israeli policies.
“The Shurat HaDin Law Center has registered a business entity with the Israeli registry of corporations called “Judea and Samaria’s Ben & Jerry’s,” wrote Shurat HaDin’s president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner in an email she wrote to the British global company Unilever who has been the owner of the Vermont based global Ben & Jerry’s since 2000.
Darshan Leitner announced that Ben and Jerry’s brand name will be used to match Vermont’s ice cream line and will also introduce new flavors. Shurat Hadin Leitner added that “we are confident that the” company will expand to the areas where it had been abandoned.
Unilever was told that it was losing the rights to the Ben & Jerrys label in this territory. aviel darshan leitner But the boycott will not begin until 2023 as the current contract with the local icecream producer will be up for renewal.
Avi Zinger is the franchisee in Israel. He has stated that his plan to stick with the Green Line regarding ice cream sales is not to be influenced by the Green Line.
Shurat haDin told Unilever that the company would continue to fight for the Ben & Jerry trademarks, rights, and brand name in the region.
Shurat Hadin According to her the sale will be limited to areas where Ben & Jerry’s has withdrawn. nitsana darshan leitner Unilever’s assurance that it will continue to sell its products to Israel’s Palestinian territories does not necessarily mean that new Ben & Jerry’s products cannot be sold to these territories.
Darshan Leitner added that Darshan Leitner also stated that Israeli franchise contracts are not valid anymore and that the ice-cream sales would be possible once they are expired.