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Ben and Jerry's Decision Will Have Consequences

(JTA) Ron Kampeas - Prof. Eugene Kontorovich, director of the Center for the Middle East and International Law at George Mason University Law School, said, "Ben & Jerry's is doing this in full awareness that this will basically end their business with Israel. Under Israeli law, a business can't discriminate among Israeli citizens, regardless of where they live." In Illinois, Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser to former Gov. Bruce Rauner, drafted one of the first anti-BDS laws in the nation in 2015. These laws represent a real threat to Unilever, Goldberg said. "Unilever, being the parent company in this case, is responsible and is liable and is subject to the state anti-BDS laws as they are written." Goldberg, now a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the disinvestment language - modeled on earlier laws mandating disinvestment of state employee funds from Iran and Sudan - could result in Unilever being removed from state employee index funds. That's "a massive amount of money just across 12 states invested in international equities," he said. "You have a very formal, explicit announcement from Ben & Jerry's announcing, very clearly, that they are taking a step to inflict harm on an Israeli company. There really never has been a clearer case, and so high-profile, for a statement that would violate the BDS laws."
2021-07-22 00:00:00
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