The Rabbinical Alliance of America — Igud HaRabbonim, representing over 950 American rabbis — condemns Ben & Jerry’s decision to end sales to Judea and Samaria. Ben & Jerry’s announced on July 19, 2021, that it was going to stop selling its ice cream in Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem, saying that sales in those parts of Israel are “inconsistent with [their] values.” This announcement discriminates against Jews living in their homeland.
Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice-president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America (RAA), expressed the RAA’s emphatic condemnation of this decision. Ben & Jerry’s did not explain how sales in Judea and Samaria are inconsistent with their values. However, this decision is consistent with bias against Israel and Jews. In 1967, Israel liberated Judea, Samaria and east Jerusalem from Jordan, which refused Jews the right to live in those areas. This contrasts greatly with Israel, which affords full rights to all its citizens regardless of religion or race.
Ben & Jerry’s decision to refuse service to Jews living in their ancestral land is discriminatory and hateful. The accusation that some make that Jews stole this land in the last century contradicts thousands of years of history. It is a historical fact that Jews have lived in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem for millennia.
Rabbi Mirocznik said, “Israel is the Jewish homeland, where Jews settled within the biblical borders thousands of years ago. Whether the Babylonians and the Greeks, the Romans and the Crusaders, the Ottomans and the British, many have occupied our land but only temporarily, because we keep returning to our homeland. There has always been a Jewish presence in Israel and particularly in Jerusalem. Even when foreign invaders persecuted us and made our lives miserable, Jews maintained a constant presence in Israel. Israel always served as a haven for Jews escaping persecution in Christian and Arab countries. It is a historical crime to now claim that Jews have no right to the land in which we have lived and for which we have prayed daily for thousands of years.”
Judea and Samaria constitute the homeland of the Jewish people, with Jerusalem as its capital. The Jewish people will not be expelled or pressured out of our homeland. Ben & Jerry’s should be ashamed of their attempt to deny to Jews their country. The company is on the wrong side of history.
The Rabbinical Alliance of America condemns any act that singles out the Jewish state for condemnation and discrimination. With all the injustice in the world, there are many countries that need intervention. Israel should not be on that list. The singling out of the Jewish state for condemnation raises serious questions that must be addressed.