Florida may divest from Ben & Jerry’s parent over Israel boycott

Florida’s governor said the US state won’t put any money into Unilever unless the company’s Ben & Jerry’s subsidiary reverses a decision to stop selling ice cream in the occupied West Bank.

Florida won’t put any state money into the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s unless it reverses a decision to stop selling ice cream in the occupied West Bank and contested East Jerusalem, Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. The Republican governor said the State Board of Administration (SBA) added London-based Unilever to its list of “scrutinized companies” that boycott Israel. This means that if Ben & Jerry’s position on Israel is not reversed in 90 days, Florida will not invest in or contract with Unilever or its subsidiaries. “As a matter of law and principle, the state of Florida will not tolerate discrimination against the state of Israel or the Israeli people,” DeSantis said in a news release. “I will not stand idly by as woke corporate ideologues seek to boycott and divest from our ally, Israel.”