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<\/p>\nThe launch of Ben & Jerry\u2019s Israel\u2019s “Milk and Honey” ice cream began as a local resilience project in southern Israel, with the company saying it used ingredients from communities affected by the October 7 attacks.<\/p>\n
Online, however, the flavor quickly became a flashpoint in Ben & Jerry\u2019s long-running corporate and political fight over Israel, Gaza and the global brand\u2019s independence from its corporate parent.<\/p>\n
The official X account for Israel wrote in a post, “Israel now has an official ice cream flavor,” accompanied by an image of a tub using Ben & Jerry\u2019s-style branding, with the text on the packaging in Hebrew.<\/p>\n
Read More on News<\/p>\n
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The post sparked confusion and accusations that the product infringed Ben & Jerry\u2019s branding, as well as backlash from critics of Israel<\/a>\u2019s actions in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n Newsweek has contacted Ben & Jerry’s Israel, Unilever and the Magnum Ice Cream<\/a> Company for comment by email.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Ben & Jerry\u2019s U.S. told Newsweek: \u201cBen & Jerry\u2019s does not own or operate the Ben & Jerry\u2019s business in Israel. The Hebrew and Arabic language versions of the Ben & Jerry\u2019s name are owned and operated by Blue & White Ice-Cream Ltd. Product decisions in that market, including locally developed flavors, are made by the local owner and operator.\u201d<\/p>\n The ownership picture has been further complicated by Unilever\u2019s broader restructuring. Unilever completed the demerger of its global ice cream business, including Ben & Jerry\u2019s and Magnum, into the standalone Magnum Ice Cream Company in 2025. That means the Israel dispute now sits within a wider corporate transition over who controls Ben & Jerry\u2019s brand, social mission and local-market operations.<\/p>\n How Ben & Jerry\u2019s Operates in Israel<\/p>\n The confusion stems from Ben & Jerry\u2019s unusual corporate structure in Israel. In 2022, Unilever sold its Ben & Jerry\u2019s business interests in Israel to Blue & White Ice-Cream Ltd., controlled by longtime local licensee Avi Zinger. The arrangement allowed products to continue being sold in Israel and the West Bank under Hebrew and Arabic branding.<\/p>\n The move followed Ben & Jerry\u2019s 2021 decision to halt sales in what it called the “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” a decision the brand said was consistent with its values, but which sparked a legal and political battle.<\/p>\n The dispute escalated again in November 2024, when Ben & Jerry\u2019s sued its then-owner, Unilever, in federal court in New York, alleging the company had silenced its attempts to express support for Palestinians in Gaza, including calls for a ceasefire, support for refugees and opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel. <\/p>\n Unilever denied the allegations and said it would defend itself. In May 2025, Ben & Jerry\u2019s independent board went further, saying in a statement that it joined those who “denounce the genocide in Gaza,” a declaration that deepened the rift between the brand\u2019s social-mission board and its corporate owner.<\/p>\n That conflict echoed the position taken by co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who describe themselves as “Jewish supporters of the State of Israel.” In a 2021 opinion piece for The New York Times, they wrote: “The company\u2019s stated decision to more fully align its operations with its values is not a rejection of Israel. It is a rejection of Israeli policy, which perpetuates an illegal occupation that is a barrier to peace and violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation.”<\/p>\n Cohen and Greenfield have both long been outspoken on politics<\/a>, including around the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. This has in turn led to clashes with Unilever, and in 2025, Greenfield announced that he was quitting Ben & Jerry\u2019s<\/a> and accused Unilever, then the owner of Ben & Jerry\u2019s, of breaking promises guaranteeing the brand\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n Ben & Jerry\u2019s Israel\u2019s \u2018Milk and Honey\u2019 Flavor Explained<\/p>\n The launch of the ice cream flavor has quickly gone viral, amassing millions of views on X.<\/p>\n A publicly available Ben & Jerry\u2019s Israel press release announcing the flavor said: “In the wake of the events of October 7, as a company based in the south and employing hundreds of employees from the region, we at Ben & Jerry’s Israel felt a responsibility to take an active part in the region’s recovery process.<\/p>\n “The idea for ‘Milk and Honey,’ an Israeli ice cream that symbolizes positive action and regional rehabilitation, was born out of a sense of resilience and aspiration for renewal.” The flavor is a nod to the biblical phrase describing a “land flowing with milk and honey.”<\/p>\n The company said the flavor uses milk and cream from southern Israeli dairies, including Kibbutz Alumim, which was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and honey from Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. It said the Star of David-shaped fudge pieces are handmade at Shkulo Tov\u2019s Corint factory in Beersheba, which supports people facing barriers to employment. Royalties will support Ayalim Association projects in southern Israel and communities near the Gaza border.<\/p>\n One post from X user @nikicaga, viewed 2 million times, reflected the broader confusion. It read: “Doing such a blatant Ben & Jerry’s rip-off (because you’re mad they’re boycotting you) is just sad.”<\/p>\n A Community Note has been added to that post, which reads: “This is an official product of Ben & Jerry’s Israel, which became independent after Unilever sold the business to a local licensee in 2022.”<\/p>\n The launch has also sparked criticism. Progressive influencer Matt Bernstein wrote in a post on X viewed 2.9 million times: “ben & jerry (ben cohen & jerry greenfield) tried to boycott their ice cream from being sold in israel, so unilever went behind their back and sold a portion of the company to an israeli licensee against their wishes. israel is selling ben & jerry’s through corporate domination.”<\/p>\n Social media<\/a> users have made edits of the ice cream to include references to the war in Gaza and criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.<\/p>\n The War in Gaza<\/p>\n The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.<\/p>\n A recent report by a U.N.-mandated independent commission of inquiry<\/a> accused Israel of committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza. Israel has rejected the allegations, saying its military campaign targets Hamas and that it takes steps to minimize civilian harm.<\/p>\n A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, 2025, but violence has continued. <\/p>\n On June 19, the United Nations<\/a> children\u2019s agency UNICEF said that 265 Palestinian children have been killed since the truce was declared.<\/p>\n Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Ben Kelly <\/a>and Mike Hirst<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The launch of Ben & Jerry\u2019s Israel\u2019s “Milk and Honey” ice cream began as a local resilience project…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20694],"tags":[13928,32295,90,22033,30,142,12213],"class_list":["post-70087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-unilever","tag-backlash","tag-ben-jerrys","tag-gaza","tag-ice-cream","tag-israel","tag-social-media","tag-unilever"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116809677216318773","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}