The ice cream debate surrounding the Ben & Jerry’s boycott is still heating up after an Israeli NGO announced plans to launch its own knock-off brand of the popular label after it announced it would stop selling in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
As first exclusively reported by The New York Post, the Tel Aviv-based Shurat HaDin Law Center applied to sell the popular ice cream under a new brand: “Judea and Samaria’s Ben & Jerry’s,” referring to the biblical names for the areas in the West Bank. The announcement was reportedly made in a letter to the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s parent firm, Unilever, on July 23, where it said it had registered a trademark with the Israeli Justice Ministry.
The new brand will look much like the original, and will include iconic flavors, such as Cherry Garcia, but with a new Zionist twist. According to The New York Post, some of the new flavors will be “Frozen Chosen People,” and the cover will be the same as the typical Ben & Jerry’s, barring the notable inclusion of the father of modern Zionism, Theodore Herzl.
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According to the report, the organization has already begun negotiations with ice cream manufacturers.
The legal nonprofit is prepared to take this to court if necessary, arguing that the ice cream giant essentially forfeited its trademark by melting under pressure and announcing it would stop selling in the settlements, according to The New York Post.
The announcement by the ice cream company that it would stop selling its famous frozen deserts to what it called the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” sparked a hot debate throughout the world, with many Israeli politicians outraged at the move. The perceived link the move has with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel has also sparked further controversy, especially as many bodies have labeled the movement as inherently antisemitic.