Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, stated that while they are “supporters of the State of Israel,” they back the company’s decision to stop selling product to Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“It’s possible to support Israel and oppose some of its policies, just as we’ve opposed policies of the US government,” Cohen and Greenfield wrote in The New York Times. “As such, we unequivocally support the decision of the company to end business in the occupied territories, which the international community, including the United Nations, has deemed an illegal occupation.”
The two further claimed that halting sales does not constitute a boycott of Israel, and that the action is not an endorsement of the controversial Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Meanwhile, they argued that they are “proud Jews” and that Israel was one of the corporation’s first overseas markets.
Ben & Jerry’s founders added that last week’s announcement was “one of the most important decisions the company has made in its 43-year history.”
Hezbollah could spark a regional war unless the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) empowers its peacekeeping mission to fully monitor the terror group’s movements, according to Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan.
“When Resolution 1701 was passed, Hezbollah had about ten thousand rockets pointed at Israel. Today, it has 150,000 rockets hidden among the schools, mosques and homes of Lebanon,” the ambassador said, adding: “Iran is working day and night to help Hezbollah obtain precision-guided missiles, and other advanced weapons.”
Erdan urged the UNSC to increase the powers granted to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon tasked with monitoring violations of the ceasefire — codified under UNSC Resolution 1701 — which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Erdan then asked: “Why allow Hezbollah to undermine Lebanese sovereignty, rather than acting forcefully to undermine Hezbollah’s terror activity?”
He also called on the UNSC to designate Hezbollah “in its entirety as a terrorist organization.”
Several hospitals in Israel have reopened their coronavirus wards amid a rise in serious COVID-19 cases in the country. The hospitals had closed the wards months ago following Israel’s successful vaccination drive. The number of serious cases nationwide dropped to a low of 19 last month.
But with the rapid spread of the Delta variant, there has been a sustained increase. According to the Health Ministry, the number of serious cases reached 153 on Wednesday, including 35 people listed as critical. The amount of serious cases has more than doubled over the past week.
Health Ministry data published Wednesday also showed there were 2,260 new COVID-19 cases identified in the country on Tuesday, with 2.38 percent of tests coming back positive. Active cases have reached 14,365, after the figure was around 200 six weeks ago.
According to the data, 5,772,362 Israelis have received at least one vaccine shot, and 5,334,736 have received both doses.
Amid a growing number of high-level contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg met with their PA counterparts in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday.
The discussions were arranged by Minister of Regional Cooperation Issawi Frej. “There will be further meetings with transport ministers, economy ministers,” he commented, adding: “The process is continuing. There is a will and commitment on both sides — we will talk.”
Since the new Israeli government was formed in June, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev and President Isaac Herzog all had conversations with PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Prior to last month, Abbas had not spoken with any Israeli government minister since 2017.
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Recommended Reading
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