Ben & Jerry’s filed a US federal lawsuit on Tuesday against its parent company Unilever to block the sale of its ice cream in “occupied Palestinian territory.”

The lawsuit is seeking an injunction of Unilever’s deal to sell all its Ben & Jerry’s interests in Israel to Avi Zinger, the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s Israel.

The lawsuit claims that Unilever breached its acquisition deal with Ben & Jerry’s, which granted autonomy to the Ben & Jerry’s board “for safeguarding the integrity of the Ben & Jerry’s brand name” and its “social mission.”

The lawsuit, which is also seeking damages from the deal and all of Unilever’s profits from it, was signed by Anuradha Mittal, the chairwoman of Ben & Jerry’s board, a pro-terror anti-Israel activist who has been accused of financial improprieties

Alyza D. Lewin, president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, who represents Zinger, stated in response: “It’s a done deal. Unilever chose the morally correct, socially just and principled path when it ensured that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream would always continue to be produced and sold in Israel and the West Bank.”

The court denied a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Unilever’s deal with Zinger.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)