Ben & Jerry’s as well as parent business Unilever “effectively concede” that they cut ties with an Israeli contractor since he declined to join them in a prohibited boycott of Israel, the service provider’s legal representatives said in federal court on Thursday.
In a legal brief filed last week, Ben & Jerry’s called a claim from Israeli ice cream supplier Avi Zinger that he was pushed to break the regulation a “side show”– but really did not reject that it reduced connections with him due to his refusal to take part in the boycott.
Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever “effectively concede that the only reason for not renewing [Zinger’s] license is [his] refusal to engage in illegal conduct. They do not dispute [Zinger’s] understanding of the Israeli and American laws and policies that Defendants’ demand would have forced [him] to violate,” Zinger’s attorneys suggested in a rebuttal short on Thursday.
Zinger’s attorneys claimed this boosted their customer’s accusation that the firm was striking back versus him for declining to commit a prohibited action– a disagreement they state is “central” to their legal action.
The ice cream maker and also Unilever are being sued by Zinger, who was Ben & Jerry’s sole representative in Israel for 35 years before the business informed him last summertime it would certainly not renew his contract. Zinger claimed Ben & Jerry’s cut him off after he declined to boycott sales in Israeli areas in the West Bank as a result of his problems that doing so would breach U.S. as well as Israeli anti-discrimination and also anti-boycott legislations.
The legal action is the most recent in a string of public as well as legal connections obstacles for Ben & Jerry’s as well as Unilever, adhering to the gelato company’s choice last year to boycott Israeli areas in the West Bank as well as its arguments to U.S. army support for Ukraine. Multiple U.S. states have actually taken out pension plan fund investments from Unilever because of the boycott.
Lawyers for Ben & Jerry’s and also Unilever have actually argued that the business had “an absolute right not to renew” its agreement with Zinger, calling the suit a “contract dispute and also nothing more.” One of Zinger’s lawyers, Brandeis Center head of state Alyza Lewin, stated the problem of whether Ben & Jerry’s asked Zinger to damage the law is part of the “central legal doctrine of the case.”
“Unilever’s unlawful demand that Avi Zinger and [his company American Quality Products] discriminate against customers based on their residence isn’t a ‘side show’—it’s the main show,” said Lewin in a statement on Thursday.
“By insisting Zinger violate Israel and U.S. anti-discrimination and anti-boycott laws and public policy, Unilever violated the Consent Decree and License Agreement it signed and unlawfully attempted to coerce [American Quality Products] to violate laws both parties agreed to obey.”
Zinger informed the Washington Free Beacon last month that he was in “shock” when the business informed him last summer season that it would certainly not restore his contract. He stated the firm had distorted to a decade-long pressure campaign from anti-Israel lobbyists to boycott the Jewish state.
“I was with Ben & Jerry’s for over 35 years. … We always got compliments,” he said. “Because [the company] had this situation, they had so much pressure, they just dumped me. People who were friends of mine for so many years.”
The court can call a hearing on the lawsuit as early as April 12, according to the Brandeis.
