It’s no secret that “Ben” Cohen & “Jerry” Greenfield are wealthy Jewish ultra-progressives. When they sold their iconic ice cream public company in 2000 for $326 million to Unilever, the caveat was that the “social justice” mission of Ben & Jerry’s would continue to be run by an autonomous board of directors (BOD).

Ben & Jerry live in Vermont and are subject to Vermont’s crazy quilt of far left politics, i.e. “Vermonters for Justice for Palestine” (VTJP) and “Jewish Voice for Peace.” Some are contrarian Jews who advocate for BDS (Boycott, Divest & Sanction) and consider the Palestinians to be the oppressed victim and Israel the oppressor and “occupier” of ill-gotten land.

Pro-Palestinian loud voices on Ben & Jerry’s BOD, plus VTJP’s long-standing threat of boycott of Ben’s & Jerry’s unless they divest, may have finally tipped the scales against Israel. Corporate and Unilever have announced that they will not renew the current Ben & Jerry’s license in Israel in 2022 and will no longer distribute ice cream to the settlements, which Ben & Jerry’s now consider to be part of Occupied Palestine Territory and not Israel.

It may be nice for a corporation to have a mission of social justice, but justice cannot be compartmentalized. Social justice is important but so is justice in one’s business dealings. Ben & Jerry’s says in their announcement they have a “long standing business partnership with their licensee in Israel,” who has obviously devoted much time and effort, and invested millions of shekels, towards establishing the business, opening a new factory, hiring workers and pioneering a market for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand throughout Israel, which includes the settlements.

After the Israeli licensee successfully established their ice cream brand, now “fair and just” Ben & Jerry’s suddenly informed the licensee …”YOU’RE OUT! We have decided that the Jewish settlements are now part of the Occupied Territory of Palestine and we will conclude our license agreement in 2022.” I’m sure Ben & Jerry’s licensees in other places and their franchises will be delighted to learn of impending “social justice” surprises in store for them if Ben & Jerry don’t like the religion or ethnicity or politics or location of some of their ice cream customers and decide not to renew.

This is also an attempt by Ben & Jerry’s to disrupt the delicate balance inherent in Middle East politics. As Israeli PM Bennett says, they “decided to brand itself as an anti-Israel ice cream.” According to VTJP and their warped version of May 14, 1948’s Israel-Palestinian history, contrary to what we understand is the truth, VTJP falsely claims that in 1948, five Arab nations (TransJordan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon) invaded Israel to “restore order and stop the bloodshed.” The truth is that five Arab nations, backed by Saudi and Yemen, invaded with troops, tanks and artillery to kill and conquer (not to pacify) the fledgling Jewish state, and thanks to the heroic resistance of the IDF and help from many quarters, the invasion utterly failed. But this shows the warped thinking of some of today’s Jewish Progressives on the BDS issue that we somehow have to re-educate on Jewish history and the emet.

Since Ben & Jerry’s is using the economic weapon of Divestment against Israel, we have to respond in kind. All supporters of Israel should not patronize Ben & Jerry’s unless and until they reverse their unjust and wrongful decision to divest.