Ice Cream War Dominates Media Coverage of Israel

News of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream boycotting post-1967 Israel has dominated news coverage of the Jewish state. Condemnations are rife while calls for a counter-boycott of the global ice cream company are endless. The Unilever subsidiary announced it would allow its contract with the Israeli licensee, which objects to the boycott, to lapse and its replacement arrangement would eschew doing business in areas Israel conquered in 1967 that the Palestinians see as the land upon which the future state of Palestine would be built. But the pro-Israel world riled at the company’s use of conflict rhetoric by referring to the disputed areas as “occupied Palestinian territory.” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wasted no time in reaching out to Unilever’s CEO with a warning that he will use all methods at his disposal to fight back. His government has already begun to canvass the more than 30 American states that have laws prohibiting the states from doing business with entities that boycott Israel.