Authorities in Illinois voted on Wednesday to end funding for pension funds at Unilever, parent company of Ben & Jerry’s. The ice cream giant announced this year that it would no longer sell its products in the West Bank.
Illinois has thus joined a number of other states which have also taken the same decision thanks to legislation which has been adopted in most of the United States and which sanctions firms boycotting Israel or the settlements. in the West Bank. Arizona, Florida, New Jersey and New York had beaten Illinois in making this decision.
At least three other states are currently examining the possibility of them divesting from these pension funds.
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The Illinois Bureau of Investment Policy made the decision in a unanimous vote, with seven members voting “for” and zero “against.” The total value of the state amount in the pension fund remains undetermined.
Several Jewish organizations and the Chicago Consulate have expressed their satisfaction.
“Israel has always maintained that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be found through direct bilateral negotiations between the two parties,” commented the head of the mission, Yinam Cohen. “Any attempt by a third party to predetermine the parameters of a possible final status agreement is counterproductive” in the need to resolve the conflict, he added.
Prior to the vote, 21 Illinois activists – including on the boards of the peace activist group J-Street and Peace Now – wrote a letter to the panel recommending it maintain its investments, noted the Forward.
They explained in this letter that the Illinois anti-boycott law wrongly confused the settlements with Israel, which was at odds with US federal policy.
In July, Ben & Jerry’s announced that the company would stop distributing its products in “the occupied Palestinian territories” – apparently in reference to settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Ben & Jerry’s boycott policy will come into effect when its local manufacturing and distribution agreements expire at the end of 2022.
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