Israel warns Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s boycott plan

The plans by Ben & Jerry's to end a long-standing partnership at the end of next year has been met with anger by the Israeli government.

Israel has warned consumer goods giant Unilever over plans by its Ben & Jerry's ice cream brand to halt sales in occupied territories.

Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett has warned Unilever chief executive Alan Jope that Ben & Jerry’s plans to halt sales in Jewish West Bank settlements and areas of east Jerusalem will have “serious repercussions, legal and otherwise”.

Mr Bennett said the Unilever ice cream brand had taken a “blatantly anti-Israel step” and that the Israeli government would act aggressively against any boycott aimed at its citizens. The territories, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War, are claimed by the Palestinians as the core of a future state.