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Florida will bar future investment, contracts with Unilever if they don't walk back decision to not sell ice cream in occupied Palestine.
Florida put Ben & Jerry's parent company Unilever on a list of "scrutinized" companies following the ice cream maker's decision not to sell their product in territories illegally occupied by Israel.
Unilever will have 90 days to reverse their decision before the state will bar future investment and contracts with them.
“As a matter of law and principle, the State of Florida will not tolerate discrimination against the State of Israel or the Israeli people,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a statement. “By placing Ben & Jerry’s Fortune 500 parent company Unilever on our List of Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel, Florida is sending a message to corporate America that we will defend our strong relationship with the Jewish State. I will not stand idly by as woke corporate ideologues seek to boycott and divest from our ally, Israel.”
The two men who founded Ben and Jerry's are both Jews who support the existence of the state of Israel. The company they founded, though they no longer control it, continues to sell ice cream within the legal boundaries of Israel, avoiding contested territories.
In statements on their website and columns for the New York Times, the ice cream makers distinguished between Israel and illegally occupied Palestinian territory.
"That we support the company’s decision is not a contradiction nor is it anti-Semitic," they wrote. "In fact, we believe this act can and should be seen as advancing the concepts of justice and human rights, core tenets of Judaism."
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