Censorship on Israel-Palestine Is At Center of Dispute with Corporate Owners
September 17, 2025—In a blow to the concept of conscience capitalism, Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, resigned today, citing a sudden lack of freedom to pursue values of peace, justice, and human rights for which the company is known.
A longstanding dispute with corporate owners, first Unilever and now Magnum, accelerated in 2024 when Ben & Jerry’s board called for a ceasefire in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. It was one of the few companies that took a stand in the Israel-Hamas war and ensuing genocide.
Unique Merger Granting Freedom
When Greenfield and co-founder Ben Cohen sold their Vermont-based company to Unilever for $326 million in 2000, they negotiated a merger agreement allowing the ice cream company to maintain its freedom to pursue its unique values.
“What has made their work so important to me, and what allowed the company to be more than just an ice cream company, was the independence to pursue our values, which was guaranteed when Unilever bought the company,” Greenfield wrote in his resignation announcement.
Merger Agreement on a Rocky Road Since 2021
The merger agreement came under political and legal tests. In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s announced it would no longer sell ice cream in Israeli settlements located in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank. Under International Humanitarian Law, it is illegal for an occupying power to establish settlements in occupied territory reserved for the local population.
Several U.S. states that ban boycotts against Israel with anti-BDS laws blacklisted the company. Ironically, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and others accused the two Jewish cofounders of antisemitism.
Unilever, meanwhile, continued to sell products to settlers in the occupied territories. Furthermore, it sold its interests in the ice cream company in Israel to a local licensing company Avi Zinger selling under Hebrew and Arabic names.
Ben & Jerry’s board filed at least two lawsuits against Unilever, arguing violations of the merger agreement.
Enter Magnum
Ben & Jerry’s is now under a new corporate ownership model that gives control over Ben & Jerry’s to a Netherlands-based company called Magnum. That comes from a spinoff from Unilever announced in 2024.
Today, Greenfield lamented the lack of freedom under the new arrangement.
“It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” he said.
Based on its public statements, it appears that Magnum emphasized some of Ben & Jerry’s stands, such as sustainability, while omitting calls for peace and justice.
In a statement today, a Magnum spokesperson said, “We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world.”
Business As a Cause
In recent weeks, cofounder Ben Cohen launched a campaign to “free Ben & Jerry’s,” which seeks to reclaim ownership of the brand. But Magnum has said it rejects the company’s cofounders attempt to buy it back.
“It was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice, and a better world,” Jerry said. “Coming to the conclusion that this is no longer possible at Ben & Jerry’s means I can no longer remain part of Ben & Jerry’s. If I can’t carry those values forward inside the company today, then I will carry them forward outside, with all the love and conviction I can.”
