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Military Audit: Coca-Cola

# V-MIL Audit: The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) & Central Bottling Company Ltd. (CBC / Coca-Cola Israel)

**Audit Phase:** V-MIL — Military & Defence Supply Chain
**Research Date:** 28 June 2026

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## Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement
No verified contract, tender award, framework agreement, or memorandum of understanding has been identified between The Coca-Cola Company, the Central Bottling Company (CBC / Coca-Cola Israel), or any CBC subsidiary and the Israeli Ministry of Defence (IMOD), the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the Israel Prison Service (IPS), the Israel Border Police, or any other Israeli state security body.

The Coca-Cola Company's official FAQ states explicitly that "Coca-Cola does not fund military operations in any country" [^11]. In a 2015 letter to the Anti-Defamation League, the company described itself as "a proud supporter of Israel" while simultaneously reaffirming that it does not endorse boycotts [^12].

In January 2024, *The Times of Israel* reported that over 100,000 soldiers were to receive Bamba snacks and Coca-Cola through "Operation Juha," a civilian charitable initiative established in 2015 by youth from the Golan Heights community of Moshav Yonatan, founded in memory of Major Yochai Kalengel who was killed by Hezbollah that year [^7]. The operation is funded through donations from multiple organisations and individuals; Osem (the manufacturer of Bamba) is identified as a corporate donor, but no equivalent corporate donation by The Coca-Cola Company or CBC to Operation Juha has been documented in available sources [^7]. The BDS Movement characterised images of soldiers with Coke cans as evidence that products were "donated to them by various genocide-enabling groups," but this characterisation of a formal corporate supply relationship is not supported by available primary source evidence [^3].

No public evidence identified that Coca-Cola, CBC, or any subsidiary appears in the SIBAT (Israel's Defence Export & Defence Cooperation Directorate) supplier directory or any Israeli defence export catalogue; SIBAT covers aerospace, naval, land forces, electronics, and related sectors rather than the beverage industry. No announcements by Coca-Cola or CBC in Israeli defence trade press regarding military procurement contracts have been identified.

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## Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants
No public evidence identified that Coca-Cola, CBC, or any subsidiary manufactures or markets ruggedised, tactical, mil-spec, or defence-grade variants of its beverages or other products for Israeli or any other military end-users.

No public evidence identified distinguishing civilian from military-specified product lines within CBC's Israeli operations. No export licence applications, end-user certificates, or government export-control reviews related to Coca-Cola's or CBC's sales to Israeli defence or security end-users have been located in accessible public records.

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## Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure
Coca-Cola and its Israeli franchisee CBC are beverage manufacturers and distributors. No public evidence identified of Coca-Cola or CBC involvement in the supply of construction, demolition, or infrastructure equipment to any party.

No public evidence identified of Coca-Cola or CBC machinery or equipment deployed in settlement construction activities, separation-barrier maintenance, or demolition operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. No construction or engineering contracts for checkpoints, detention facilities, military bases, or settlement-infrastructure projects have been attributed to Coca-Cola or CBC in any accessible source.

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## Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes
No public evidence identified of any supply relationship, joint development programme, co-production agreement, technology transfer, or licensed manufacturing arrangement between Coca-Cola, CBC, or any subsidiary and Israeli defence prime contractors including Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, or any comparable entity.

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## Logistical Sustainment & Base Services
**Tara Dairy Acquisition and Market Position**

CBC acquired Tara Dairy in October 2004 for approximately $39 million, making it a wholly owned CBC subsidiary [^10]. Tara is Israel's second-largest dairy processor, controlling approximately 12–14% of the Israeli dairy market [^25]. Publicly documented customer segments for Tara Dairy supply include hotels, hospitals, and restaurants [^25][^26].

**Unverified Claim Regarding IDF and Security-Force Supply**

A single secondary source summary attributed to a Bangladeshi news outlet characterised Tara Dairy as a "direct vendor" to an "institutional market" stated to encompass the IDF, the Israel Prison Service, and the Israel Police. That article could not be fetched in primary form (HTTP 403 error); no Israeli government procurement record, IDF tender document, or other primary source corroborating this specific characterisation was located [^25][^26]. The Who Profits profile of CBC, the AFSC Investigate entry, the Wikipedia entry on Tara Dairy, and the Israel Dairy database all describe Tara's institutional customer base as hotels, hospitals, and restaurants — with no reference to security-force supply [^1][^5][^25][^26]. This claim is therefore assessed as unverified from primary sources and is not corroborated by any civil-society database reviewed during this audit.

**Base Services and Defence Logistics**

No public evidence identified of verified contracts by CBC or any Coca-Cola entity to provide catering, transport, fuel, waste management, or other logistical services to IDF bases, military training facilities, or detention centres. No public evidence identified of Coca-Cola or CBC involvement in defence logistics, military cargo, or arms-related shipping operations.

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## Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms
Coca-Cola and CBC are beverage and food companies with no documented role in the design, manufacture, or supply of lethal systems, munitions, precursor materials, or components for any strategic defence platform. No public evidence identified of connections between Coca-Cola or CBC and programmes such as Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow, the F-35, the Merkava main battle tank, or any other weapons or missile-defence system.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's report A/HRC/59/23 (2 July 2025), which named more than sixty companies assessed as directly aiding Israel's military operations, does not name The Coca-Cola Company, CBC, Tara Dairy, or Tabor Winery [^19][^20]. The named companies in that report are concentrated in arms manufacturing, surveillance technology, heavy machinery, construction, energy, banking, and logistics — no beverage sector company appears among them [^19][^20].

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## Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History
No public evidence identified of any government decision in any jurisdiction to grant, deny, suspend, or revoke an export licence for Coca-Cola or CBC products to Israeli military or security end-users. No public evidence identified of any investigation, citation, or enforcement action against Coca-Cola or CBC related to arms embargoes, export control regimes, or defence-trade sanctions concerning Israel. No court proceedings, judicial reviews, or legal challenges specifically addressing a Coca-Cola or CBC defence supply relationship with Israel have been identified in accessible sources.

**Arab League Boycott (Historical, Pre-2020)**

From approximately 1966–1968 through 1991, Coca-Cola was subject to an Arab League secondary boycott following its decision to establish bottling operations in Israel, excluding the company from Arab markets during that period [^27]. This episode constitutes a market-access sanction directed at the company's commercial Israel presence rather than an export-control action arising from any defence supply activity; it is noted as historical context for the company's longstanding operational relationship with the Israeli market.

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## Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations
**UN OHCHR Settlement Database (A/HRC/43/71 and Successors)**

In February 2020, multiple media outlets — including *The Times of Israel* (headline: "Coca-Cola, Teva on UN blacklist of settlement-friendly firms — report") and *People's Dispatch* — reported that Coca-Cola appeared in the initial UN OHCHR database of business enterprises involved in activities related to Israeli settlements (A/HRC/43/71) [^6][^37]. The OHCHR press release accompanying the database's publication confirmed its issuance, and the full PDF annex (A/HRC/43/71) was made available [^14][^15]. A live search of the OpenSanctions database — which mirrors the current OHCHR settlement database — returned no current match for "Coca-Cola," "Coca Cola," or "Central Bottling Company" [^16]. A June 2023 OHCHR update to the database was also issued without Coca-Cola being noted among its additions [^28]. The most recent update, A/HRC/60/19 (26 September 2025), lists 158 enterprises from 11 countries [^17][^18]; its accessible summary does not name Coca-Cola or CBC among notable entries [^17]. The discrepancy between the 2020 media reports and the current database status cannot be definitively resolved from available open sources; possible explanations include removal following a review, confusion between Who Profits data and the formal OHCHR database, or a listing that applied to a CBC subsidiary not separately searchable under the Coca-Cola name. Resolution requires direct text-searchable access to the structured annexes of A/HRC/43/71 and its successors.

**UN Special Rapporteur Report A/HRC/59/23 (July 2025)**

The Coca-Cola Company, CBC, Tara Dairy, and Tabor Winery are not named in Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's report on business enterprises and the economy of occupation (A/HRC/59/23, 2 July 2025) [^19][^20]. The report's sixty-plus named companies are concentrated in arms manufacturing, surveillance technology, heavy machinery, construction, energy, banking, and logistics; no beverage sector company appears among them [^19][^20].

**Who Profits Research Centre**

The Who Profits profile for CBC (validated June 2023) documents that through its subsidiary the Central Beverage Distribution Company, CBC "operates a regional distribution center and cooling houses in the Atarot Industrial Zone in occupied East Jerusalem" [^1]. Tabor Winery — 92.5% owned by CBC — is a separately profiled entity with vineyard operations in the occupied West Bank and the occupied Syrian Golan [^1][^2]. No military or security-force supply connections are documented in either profile [^1][^2].

The Tabor Winery Who Profits profile (validated June 2023) documents approximately 100 dunams of vineyards planted circa 2009 in the settlement of Alon Shvut (Gush Etzion, occupied West Bank), as well as vineyards in the Golan Heights settlements of Ortal and Keshet [^2]. Tabor wines are distributed internationally via Amazon, Millesima, Vivino, Kedem Europe, and KosherWine.com [^2].

The Who Profits Israeli Wine Industry Report (2023 update) names Tabor Winery as a settlement-complicit winery alongside multiple other Israeli producers, drawing on Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economy, and Central Bureau of Statistics official documents as primary sources [^13].

**AFSC Investigate**

The American Friends Service Committee's Investigate database lists Coca-Cola Co as a "US multinational beverage company whose Israeli licensee has a logistics center in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank, and it makes wine from grapes that are grown in illegal settlements in the West Bank and Syrian Golan," with the entry current as of 14 April 2025 [^5]. The AFSC entry cites Who Profits as its primary source and documents no military supply connections [^5].

**Al-Haq — Atarot Settlement Report**

Al-Haq published a detailed report on the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone in June 2020, providing primary documentation on industrial operations within that zone, where CBC maintains its regional distribution centre [^29]. The full text of this report was not accessible during the research session; it may contain additional primary documentation relevant to CBC's operations and any security-adjacent activities at Atarot [^29].

**BDS Movement Campaigns**

In November 2024, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) formally endorsed grassroots #BoycottCoke campaigns, designating Coca-Cola as an "organic grassroots boycott target" — a classification distinct from the BDS movement's own formal priority consumer targets [^4][^31]. The BNC's stated grounds include CBC's distribution centre in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone and the in-kind provision of Coca-Cola products to IDF soldiers by third-party charitable organisations [^3][^4]. The BDS movement had previously declined to prioritise Coca-Cola as a formal target, citing its "careful and strategic target-selection criteria" [^4]. Coordinated #BoycottCoke campaigns have been documented in New Zealand [^30], the United Kingdom [^33], and across multiple global markets [^32].

**Im Tirtzu Donation (2015, Disclosed 2017)**

In 2015, CBC (Coca-Cola Israel) made a donation of NIS 50,000 (approximately $13,850 USD) to Im Tirtzu, a right-wing Israeli civil-society organisation [^8][^23][^24]. Im Tirtzu requested that the donation remain confidential; the Israel Corporations Authority declined that request and made the donation public in May 2017 [^8][^24]. Im Tirtzu characterises part of its mission as "protecting the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces from persecution and defamation," though no court has classified it as a military or defence body — a 2013 Israeli court ruling found "similarities" to fascism without direct equivalence [^8][^23]. This is a pre-2020 finding and constitutes the only documented CBC charitable donation carrying any military-adjacent framing.

**Principals — Wertheim Family**

Moshe Wertheim (founder of CBC; died 31 August 2016) served in the pre-state Palmach militia and subsequently in the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency until 1965, when he entered private business [^9][^36]. He acquired the Coca-Cola bottling franchise for Israel in 1967 in partnership with US investor Abraham Feinberg [^9]. David Wertheim, current controlling shareholder (62.99% stake) and principal of CBC, assumed an active management role at the company following his father's death [^35][^36]. No public evidence identified of David Wertheim holding FIDF board roles, Israeli defence-industry directorships, reservist-fund charitable donations, equity stakes in Israeli defence primes, or public co-belligerency statements in any source accessed during this audit.

**Commercial Boycott Impacts**

Verified consumer boycott impacts linked to CBC's settlement-related activities and perceived association with Israel's military operations include an approximately 23% decline in Coca-Cola sales in Bangladesh during 2024 [^38], double-digit sales declines in Egypt in the first half of 2024 [^38], a 12.2% decline for Coca-Cola İçecek in Turkey in Q3 2024 [^38], and a 22.9% decline in Pakistan [^38]. A documented market shift in the West Bank from Coca-Cola to local alternatives — including "Chat Cola" — was reported in February 2025 [^39]. These impacts derive from consumer boycott campaigns rather than from regulatory or institutional divestment actions.

**Corporate Response**

Coca-Cola Company's public-facing FAQ denies that any profits are directed to the Israeli army and reiterates that the company does not fund military operations [^11]. Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey addressed the "Israel war" at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2024 [^34]; the specific content of those remarks was not accessible from available sources. The company was characterised as "silent" on Israeli military attacks in October 2023 by commentators who contrasted this with its prior public statements on social-justice issues, noting its operation of a $20 million bottling plant in Gaza [^40]. *The Washington Post* reported in August 2024 on Coca-Cola's efforts to suppress a boycott related to the Gaza conflict [^32]. Ethical Consumer has documented Palestine-focused campaigns targeting Coca-Cola alongside Israeli fresh produce [^22]. Brussels Morning has provided background context on CBC's Atarot distribution centre and settlement wine operations in the context of broader questions about the company's Israel relationships [^27].

**Institutional Divestment**

No public evidence identified of any verified institutional divestment decision — by any pension fund, sovereign wealth fund, or endowment — from Coca-Cola specifically on grounds of military or occupation-related defence supply.

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## End Notes

[^1]: https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/4081

[^2]: https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/4073

[^3]: https://bdsmovement.net/news/coca-cola-quenching-israel%E2%80%99s-genocidal-soldiers%E2%80%99-thirst

[^4]: https://bdsmovement.net/Guide-to-BDS-Boycott

[^5]: https://investigate.afsc.org/company/coca-cola

[^6]: https://www.timesofisrael.com/coca-cola-teva-on-un-blacklist-of-settlement-friendly-firms-report/

[^7]: https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-100000-soldiers-to-receive-bamba-and-coke-thursday/

[^8]: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-05-07/ty-article/coca-cola-israel-donated-to-left-bashing-group-im-tirtzu/0000017f-f6fa-d887-a7ff-fefe86c30000

[^9]: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/2016-08-31/ty-article/muzi-wertheim-who-built-a-fortune-with-coca-cola-dies-at-age-86/0000017f-f372-d487-abff-f3feef0c0000

[^10]: https://www.haaretz.com/2004-04-29/ty-article/coca-cola-israel-buys-tara-number-3-in-dairy-sector/0000017f-ea51-d4a6-af7f-fed759ac0000

[^11]: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/about-us/faq/does-coca-cola-send-any-of-its-profits-to-the-israeli-army-

[^12]: https://www.adl.org/resources/letter/coca-cola-assures-adl-it-does-not-endorse-boycotts-israel

[^13]: https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/142

[^14]: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2020/02/un-rights-office-issues-report-business-activities-related-settlements

[^15]: https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/A.HRC_.43.71-1.pdf

[^16]: https://www.opensanctions.org/datasets/ps_ohchr_settlement/

[^17]: https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/israelopt-un-updates-database-of-businesses-involved-in-illegal-israeli-settlements-listing-158-enterprises-from-11-countries/

[^18]: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc6019-database-all-business-enterprises-involved-activities-detailed

[^19]: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session59/advance-version/a-hrc-59-23-aev.pdf

[^20]: https://bergensia.com/un-report-more-than-60-companies-directly-aiding-israels-genocide-against-the-palestinians/

[^22]: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethical-campaigns-boycotts/palestine-campaigners-target-coca-cola-israeli-fresh-produce

[^23]: https://forward.com/fast-forward/371176/coca-cola-donates-to-fascist-israeli-group/

[^24]: https://www.timesofisrael.com/right-wing-ngo-seeks-to-conceal-coca-colas-donation/

[^25]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(Israel)

[^26]: https://www.israeldairy.com/tara-dairy/

[^27]: https://brusselsmorning.com/does-coca-cola-support-israel-what-you-need-to-know-about-it/71604/

[^28]: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/update-database-business-enterprises-relation-occupied-palestinian

[^29]: https://www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2020/06/02/atarot-settlement-interactive-1591084307.pdf

[^30]: https://bdsaotearoa.nz/economic-boycott/coca-cola

[^31]: https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/article/boycottcoke-coca-cola-is-now-on-the-bds-priority-list/

[^32]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/08/12/coca-cola-boycott-israel-gaza/

[^33]: https://www.foa.org.uk/campaign/boycottcocacola

[^34]: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2024-01-18/coca-cola-ceo-on-obesity-drugs-israel-war-diet-soda-video

[^35]: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-david-wertheim-to-shake-up-coca-cola-israel-management-1001111111

[^36]: https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-coca-cola-owner-moshe-wertheim-dies-1001149562

[^37]: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/02/13/un-publishes-list-of-companies-with-ties-to-illegal-israeli-settlements-in-west-bank/

[^38]: https://www.dailysabah.com/business/economy/2-years-into-gaza-genocide-global-boycotts-batter-brands-linked-to-israel/

[^39]: https://fortune.com/2025/02/25/palestinians-drop-coca-cola-local-alternative-chat-us-support-for-israel/

[^40]: https://peachtreetimes.com/stories/650697936-coca-cola-operator-of-20-million-bottling-plant-in-gaza-silent-on-israel-attacks-despite-history-of-support-for-social-justice ```