New York State’s Common Retirement Fund, estimated at $268 billion, on Thursday restricted its holdings in Unilever because of the boycott of Jewish settlements in Israel by its subsidiary, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said a review conducted by fund officials concluded that both Unilever and Ben & Jerry “engaged in BDS activities.”
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 157 directs State entities to divest all public funds supporting the Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel. The action ensures that “no State agency or authority engages in or promotes any investment activity that would further the harmful and discriminatory Palestinian-backed Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in New York State.”
According to DiNapoli, the state pension fund’s shares in Unilever were valued last September at $103.6 million.
That’s a lot of ice cream.
In mid-September, the Acting Director of the State of New Jersey’s Division of Investment, Shoaib Khan, announced he was planning to divest investments in Unilever following an internal investigation that found that the Vermont-based ice cream maker is boycotting Israel.
Unilever North America is based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.