The Opponents Aren't Melting

Ben & Jerry's Israel factory (JTA)

The BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) movement began 15-20 years ago in order to show support for Palestinians and punish companies that did business with Israel. BDS was embraced by left-wing activists as a non-violent method of harming Israel economically and perhaps inducing it to change its policies.

When Ben & Jerry's, the popular ice cream company now owned by Unilever, announced that it will no longer sell its products in the West Bank, it was not a surprise. BDS was just another chapter in Ben & Jerry's' 30+-year history of left-wing activism. BDS, like climate change, Black Lives Matter, and vaccination mandates, has had an easy ride because companies have judged the cost of resistance to be too high.

However, the opposition to BDS is beginning to employ the same tactics on Unilever that BDS has used on companies like Hewlett-Packard, Puma, and Sodastream: [bold added]

Two months after Ben & Jerry’s said it would stop retailing its products in Jewish settlements located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, several state funds are selling or threatening to sell their investments in Unilever PLC, the ice cream brand’s parent company.

The New Jersey Division of Investment, which manages several state pension funds, said this week it planned to sell $182 million of stocks, bonds and other securities linked to Unilever, accusing the company of breaking state laws that prohibit the boycott of Israel. It didn’t give a time frame for the sale, and Unilever can appeal the decision.

Separately, Arizona said earlier this month that it would sell the last $50 million of its investments in Unilever by Sept. 21 for the same reason. The state said its funds had already sold $93 million worth of investments in Unilever since Ben & Jerry’s announced its decision.

Other states including New York, Florida and Texas have said they are evaluating whether their funds would need to sell their Unilever investments. Unilever declined to comment Friday on the divestments but reiterated its commitment to Israel.

Just as BDS has had little effect on companies with a sizable market cap, the pushback on Unilever will not hurt it directly. However, this episode shows that acquiescing to activism is beginning to carry its own costs.