Analysis of Unilever Letter on Ben & Jerry’s BDS Activity

Unilever CEO Alan Jope sent a letter to major Jewish organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 27, 2021, in an effort to defend the company’s decision earlier last month to terminate its Ben & Jerry’s licensee in Israel in a manner consistent with the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign to isolate the Jewish state. While the letter contained several statements apparently designed to soften opposition to Unilever’s Israel boycott, the letter’s substance contained several apparently misleading assertions.