All new employees of ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's are now required to attend a series of four lectures by activists on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish Insider reported this week.
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This includes one by Omar Shakir of Human Rights Watch, a leading BDS activist expelled from Israel for supporting the boycott of the Jewish state.
Last year, Ben & Jerry's caused an uproar when it announced it would no longer sell its products in the "occupied Palestinian Territories," referring to Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem.
Jewish Insider reported that the company makes new employees watch videos about racism in the United States and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict under the title "Scooper Series: Social Mission."
The news outlet published a portion of Shakir's video, noting that it was obtained from an employee who watched the videos.
In his video, Shakir accuses Israel of pursuing policies to force Palestinians out of their homes and to remove the population of Gaza "from Israel's demographic balance sheet."
On Wednesday, Religious Zionism Party MK Simcha Rothman urged the government to cancel all benefits given to Ben & Jerry's parent company, Unilever.
"To this day, the Israeli government hasn't taken any steps against Unilever and its participation in tenders hasn't been prevented," he said in a statement.
The controversial decision to stop the sale of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Judea and Samaria also landed its parent company in court, as investors slapped Unilever with a class-action suit, saying the company hid that it was considering the move from investors.
The lawsuit was filed by the City of St. Clair Shores Police and Fire Retirement System and charges Unilever with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
It argues that Unilever made "false and misleading statements and failed to disclose" that in July 2020, Ben & Jerry's board passed a resolution to end sales of its ice cream in "occupied Palestinian Territory," as well as the risks attendant to the board's decision.
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Additionally, "Unilever's s description of its legal risks was materially false and misleading because Unilever acknowledged that complying with all applicable laws and regulations was important but omitted to discuss Ben & Jerry's boycott decision, which risked adverse governmental actions for violations of laws, executive orders, or resolutions aimed at discouraging boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel adopted by 35 US states ('Anti-BDS Legislation')."
Ben & Jerry's made the move public on July 19, 2021, and the price of Unilever shares fell. In the course of the months that followed the states of New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona divested their pension fund investments in Unilever due to violations of their Anti-BDS Legislation, inflicting further losses on the company, which hurt investors, the lawsuit said.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
