The Ben & Jerry’s company board said last week that its parent company Unilever froze its directors’ salaries amid the dispute between the two companies over Unilever’s deal with Ben & Jerry’s Israel allowing it to continue selling ice cream in Yehudah and Shomron, Reuters reported.

Attempts last month to mediate the dispute failed and the battle will return to the courts, with a hearing scheduled for Monday, August 8th.

“This decision for us to go to court is because of Unilever’s sale without our input, which is a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of our original acquisition agreement with Unilever,” board chairperson Anuradha Mittal, an anti-Israel activist, said in an interview. “If Unilever is willing to so blatantly violate the agreement that has governed the parties’ conduct for over two decades, then we believe it won’t stop with this issue.”

“If left unaddressed, Unilever’s actions will undermine our social mission and essential integrity of the brand, which threatens our reputation and ultimately our business as a whole.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)