INDEX / DIRECTORY / UNILEVER

Unilever

FMCG & BrandsCosmetics & Skincare 112 CITED SOURCES UPDATED 2026-09-01 METHOD V6.4
Complicity Index score 580 /1000 C Tier C - High
Military ↗ 0.00 Digital ↗ 0.86 Economic ↗ 6.60 Political ↗ 4.60
OWNERSHIP TREE 47 brands and group businesses View all

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Key Findings

  • Economic: Unilever Israel maintains a substantial in-country consumer-goods operation, reported to employ about 2,000 people across four plants, and Unilever stated in 2021 that it had invested one billion shekels in Israel over the preceding decade.1, 2
  • Settlements: A Unilever-linked Beigel and Beigel factory operated in the Barkan Industrial Zone near Ariel until production was relocated to Safed in February 2013; a reported 2025 sale process for Unilever’s residual 51% stake had not been publicly confirmed as closed.3, 4
  • Political: Unilever’s 2022 sale of Ben & Jerry’s Israeli business and licence to Avi Zinger enabled continued sales in Israel and West Bank settlements, reversing the brand board’s 2021 settlement-sales halt.5, 6
  • Not found: No public evidence identified of Unilever defence contracting, military supply, Project Nimbus participation, Israeli security-sector technology contracts, or operation of an Israeli R&D centre.7, 8

Target Profile

FieldDetail
Company NameUnilever plc
JurisdictionEngland and Wales.9
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom; Unilever Israel’s operational headquarters is reported at Airport City.1, 10
SectorPublicly listed fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG): food, ice cream, home care and personal care.1, 11
OwnershipPublicly listed on the LSE, NYSE and Euronext Amsterdam; no controlling shareholder was reported in Unilever’s 2025 Form 20-F.9, 11
Key Executives / GovernanceCEO Hein Schumacher; Chair Ian Meakins; former CEO Alan Jope. Nelson Peltz joined the board as a non-executive director in July 2022.12, 13
Israeli-Nexus SummaryA wholly owned Israeli operating presence and historical settlement-linked manufacturing/equity nexus; continued Ben & Jerry’s settlement sales through a licensee after Unilever’s 2022 transaction.1, 4, 5

Key Facts:

Executive Summary

Unilever’s documented Israel/Palestine nexus is principally economic and political rather than military or digital. The company operates through Unilever Israel, a wholly owned local subsidiary reported to employ approximately 2,000 people and operate four manufacturing plants inside Israel proper. In July 2021, then-CEO Alan Jope stated that Unilever remained fully committed to its Israeli business and said the group had invested one billion shekels in Israel over the preceding decade.1, 2

The principal settlement-related record concerns Beigel and Beigel. A factory linked to the Unilever subsidiary operated in the Barkan Industrial Zone near the Ariel settlement. Unilever reported that production was moved to Safed in February 2013, and Who Profits verified the closure on site. The audit found no evidence of subsequent settlement-zone manufacturing. It also records that Unilever reportedly retained a 51% equity stake in the entity and that a sale process was reported in March 2025; no public confirmation that the sale closed was located.3, 4

A separate, continuing political and commercial controversy concerns Ben & Jerry’s. The independent board announced in July 2021 that it would stop sales in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Unilever subsequently sold the Israeli business and licence to Avi Zinger’s American Quality Products/Blue & White Ice-Cream structure, with the December 2022 arrangement permitting sales in Israel and West Bank settlements under Hebrew and Arabic branding. Ben & Jerry’s litigated against Unilever over the transaction and later alleged restrictions on Gaza-related social-mission statements; these are active or reported corporate-governance allegations, not evidence of military or security provision.5, 6, 14

The audits found no public evidence of contracts with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, police, prisons, or intelligence bodies; arms, munitions, dual-use tactical products, military logistics, or supply to Israeli defence primes. They likewise found no public evidence that Unilever participates in Project Nimbus, provides cloud, AI, surveillance or cybersecurity services to Israeli state bodies, or operates an Israeli R&D centre. Unilever is not identified in the reviewed OHCHR settlement-business database editions or in the cited 2025 Special Rapporteur report as a company providing the technology, military, or settlement activities discussed there.7, 8, 15

Under the fixed, human-vetted V6 assessment supplied for this dossier, Unilever receives a BRS of 580, placing it in Tier C (Substantial Complicity). That outcome is driven by the documented scale of its Israeli commercial presence, the historical and potentially residual Barkan nexus, and the decision to continue Ben & Jerry’s settlement-market availability through a licensee; it does not rest on allegations of military contracting or digital-security involvement.

Timeline of Relevant Events

DateEvent
1938–1939A Blue Band margarine factory was established in Haifa under the TAMI/Eretz Israel Food Products lineage cited in the audit.1
1996Unilever entered an ice-cream joint venture with Strauss Group, later acquiring full ownership in early 2014.1
2002Unilever Israel was formed through the merger of the group’s local food and personal-care operations.1
2010Unilever acquired full ownership of Bagel Bagel/Beigel and Beigel, according to the reviewed corporate-history material.1
February 2013Unilever reported relocation of Beigel and Beigel production from Barkan to Safed; Who Profits verified the Barkan facility’s closure on 11 February 2013.3
19 July 2021Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would stop selling ice cream in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.6
22 July 2021Alan Jope stated that Unilever remained fully committed to Israel and referred to one billion shekels invested there over the preceding decade.2
October–December 2021Several US state pension bodies initiated, considered, or completed anti-BDS divestment actions relating to Unilever following the Ben & Jerry’s announcement.16
June–December 2022Unilever sold Ben & Jerry’s Israeli business interests and rights to Avi Zinger’s company; the resulting arrangement allowed continued sales in Israel and West Bank settlements.5, 14
November 2024Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever, alleging the parent restricted statements and actions relating to Gaza, ceasefire advocacy, and Palestinian support.17
March 2025Ben & Jerry’s board alleged in court that Unilever removed CEO Dave Stever for reasons connected to social-mission activism; Unilever’s position is not established by that allegation alone.18
March 2025A report stated that Unilever intended to sell its 51% Beigel and Beigel stake; the audit found no public confirmation that the sale closed.4
September 2025Jerry Greenfield resigned, stating that Unilever had “silenced” Ben & Jerry’s social-mission activism; this remains part of the reported governance dispute.19

Corporate Overview

Unilever plc is a publicly listed FMCG multinational headquartered in the United Kingdom following the 2020 unification of its former Anglo-Dutch structure. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam. The audit identifies no state-held golden share, state ownership, founding mandate, or governance mechanism tying Unilever’s primary corporate mission to Israeli state objectives.11

Unilever Israel is reported to be a wholly owned local subsidiary, formed in 2002 through the merger of food and personal-care operations. The reviewed materials describe local production at Safed, Acre, Arad and Haifa, while Unilever’s 2025 appendix identifies several Israeli group entities. The audit found no public evidence of Israeli state ownership, government-appointed board members, critical-infrastructure designation, or Israeli government contracts involving Unilever.1, 10

The historical settlement nexus is limited in the record to Beigel and Beigel’s former Barkan facility and the associated reported equity position. Physical production moved to Safed in 2013, and the site closure was independently verified. The audit does not treat the historical operation as evidence of continuing settlement manufacturing; it retains the caveat that a reported residual 51% stake was subject to a 2025 sale process not publicly confirmed as completed.3, 4

Ben & Jerry’s is distinct from Unilever Israel’s ordinary operating structure. The brand’s independent board holds contractual authority over social-mission matters under the 2000 acquisition arrangements, an authority that has been the subject of litigation and reported disputes. Since 2022, the Israeli business and licence have been held by Avi Zinger’s licensee structure rather than operated through Unilever’s direct import channel.5, 14, 17

Domain Summaries

Military: Military

Mechanism of Involvement

No public evidence identified of a Unilever contract, tender, framework agreement, memorandum of understanding, or other procurement relationship with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, IDF, Israel Prison Service, Israel Border Police, or Israeli intelligence bodies. Unilever does not appear in SIBAT’s Defence and HLS directory, and no press or trade reporting reviewed establishes defence-sector cooperation.7

No public evidence identified that Unilever manufactures tactical, ruggedised, mil-spec or defence-grade products; its documented Israeli activity is consumer food, home-care and personal-care production and sales. The audits found no evidence of export licences, end-user certificates, military construction activity, base services, military cargo logistics, weapons manufacture, munitions, or supply of components to Elbit, IAI, Rafael, or IMI/Elbit Land.7, 20

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The strongest defence is that Unilever is a civilian consumer-goods company, not a defence supplier. The reviewed sources produced no direct defence contract, defence-prime supply-chain link, military end-use record, or export-control action. The Barkan matter concerns historical industrial siting and possible residual equity, not military engineering, base support, or arms supply.3, 7

Absence findings are limited to the reviewed public record and do not prove that no commercial products are ever purchased by individual personnel or civilian institutions. They do establish that the audit identified no documented military nexus sufficient to support a Military involvement finding.

Named Entities and Evidence Map

EntityAudit-documented relationship or finding
Israeli Ministry of Defense / IDF / prison and border-police bodiesNo public evidence identified of contracts or procurement involving Unilever.7
SIBATUnilever was not found in the reviewed Defence and HLS directory.7
Elbit SystemsWho Profits’ reviewed Elbit profile did not establish a Unilever linkage.20
Beigel and BeigelHistorical Barkan manufacturing and later relocation; not a military or defence-engineering relationship.3

Digital: Digital

Mechanism of Involvement

HCLTech described support for Unilever’s Google Cloud-based cloud-acceleration and datacentre-exit strategy in 2022. That material does not specify an Israeli cloud region, Israeli data processing, Project Nimbus participation, or service to Israeli state bodies.21 KMT, an Israel-based ICT provider, publicly describes itself as servicing Unilever and lists private-cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, DevOps, consulting and VoIP among its services. Its public material does not identify the particular services or products supplied to Unilever, whether it hosts Unilever data, or whether any relationship reaches state or security institutions.22

Unilever’s Israel-facing privacy terminology discusses profiling, biometric data, location data and tracking technologies. It does not establish use of biometric identification, facial recognition, Israeli-origin surveillance tools, Israeli cloud-region use, or state-access arrangements.23 The audit also records ownership by Unilever Israel Foods Ltd of the KLIK LABEL trademark; that record is a trademark fact, not evidence of an Israeli technology R&D operation.24

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

No public evidence identified that Unilever licensed or integrated named Israeli-origin security products such as Wiz, SentinelOne, CyberArk, NICE, Verint, Claroty or Check Point. A CyberArk podcast identifying Unilever’s CISO and an unnamed Claroty food-and-beverage case study do not establish product deployment by Unilever.25

No public evidence identified of Project Nimbus participation; technology contracts with Israeli defence, intelligence, police or other security bodies; AI or surveillance systems supplied to them; or an Unilever-operated Israeli R&D centre. The audit does not infer those links from Unilever’s general cloud transformation, KMT servicing relationship, or privacy documentation.8, 21, 22

Named Entities and Evidence Map

EntityAudit-documented relationship or finding
HCLTech / Google CloudDocumented cloud-transformation support, without a disclosed Israeli-region or Project Nimbus nexus.21
KMTIsrael-based ICT provider that publicly describes itself as servicing Unilever; exact services to Unilever are not disclosed.22
Project NimbusIsraeli-government cloud programme; no public evidence identified of Unilever participation.8
Unilever Israel Foods LtdListed group entity and KLIK LABEL trademark owner; neither fact establishes a technology R&D footprint.10, 24

Economic: Economic

Mechanism of Involvement

Unilever’s strongest documented vector is its ongoing Israeli commercial presence. Unilever Israel is reported to employ approximately 2,000 people, operate manufacturing plants in Safed, Acre, Arad and Haifa, and be headquartered at Airport City. In July 2021, Alan Jope said Unilever had invested one billion shekels in Israel over the preceding decade, including a new razor-blade factory associated with Dollar Shave Club production.1, 2

The settlement-linked economic record concerns Beigel and Beigel’s former facility in the Barkan Industrial Zone near Ariel. Production was relocated to Safed in early 2013, and Who Profits verified the closure. No evidence of subsequent Unilever settlement-zone manufacturing was identified. The audit nevertheless records reporting that Unilever retained a 51% equity stake in the associated entity and intended to sell it in 2025; closure of that sale is unconfirmed in the reviewed public record.3, 4

Ben & Jerry’s sales in Israel and the West Bank continue through an independent licensee following the 2022 sale of rights and assets. This is a commercial-market nexus, but the audit distinguishes it from a direct Unilever import channel.5, 14

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

The most substantial mitigation is the verified 2013 relocation of Barkan production to Safed inside Israel proper. The audits found no evidence of later settlement-zone manufacturing and no public evidence of direct agricultural sourcing from named Israeli exporters, settlement-product labelling enforcement, Israel Bonds holdings, Israel-focused investment funds, Israeli state ownership, or government contracts.3, 26

Several economic-scale details are qualified. The claim that roughly 85% of Israeli sales are locally made, and a sixth-largest-consumer-goods-company ranking, derive from a secondary aggregator and were not independently corroborated. A claim concerning the Beit Shean razor plant rests on a consumer-forum thread and is not treated as confirmed. A low-confidence claim that Unilever products are standard IDF field rations was not corroborated.27

Named Entities and Evidence Map

EntityAudit-documented relationship or finding
Unilever IsraelWholly owned local operating subsidiary with reported manufacturing footprint and workforce.1
Beigel and BeigelFormer Barkan facility closed and production relocated in 2013; reported residual equity-sale process unresolved.3, 4
Avi Zinger / American Quality Products / Blue & White Ice-CreamIndependent licensee structure operating Ben & Jerry’s sales in Israel and West Bank settlements after the 2022 transaction.5, 14
OHCHR settlement-business databaseUnilever was not identified in the reviewed 2020, 2023 or 2025 editions.15

Political: Political

Mechanism of Involvement

In July 2021, Alan Jope told investors that Unilever remained fully committed to business in Israel. He also wrote to US Jewish organizations that Unilever rejected discrimination and intolerance and had never supported BDS. These are the audit’s principal documented corporate statements on Israel-related policy.2, 28

The principal policy-relevant corporate action was Unilever’s 2022 sale of Ben & Jerry’s Israeli licensing and distribution rights after the brand board’s 2021 decision to halt sales in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The sale allowed continued sales in Israel and West Bank settlements, which the audit characterizes as effectively reversing the boycott. Multiple US state pension bodies pursued anti-BDS divestment measures against Unilever following the earlier halt announcement.5, 6, 16

Ben & Jerry’s has alleged that Unilever restricted Gaza-related statements, ceasefire advocacy, donations and other social-mission activity, and later alleged the politically motivated removal of CEO Dave Stever. These are allegations in litigation and reported accounts; they should not be converted into independently established findings of motive or editorial policy.17, 18

Counter-Arguments and Evidence Limits

Unilever’s strongest defence is its public position that it does not support BDS and its stated call for peace and relief for those affected by the conflict. It also maintains that Ben & Jerry’s independent social-mission board is separate for purposes of speaking on such matters.28, 29

No public evidence identified of corporate donations to the IDF, Friends of the IDF, the Jewish National Fund, Lev Echad, settlement-support organizations, or an Israeli emergency medical/blood-bank auxiliary. Claims of support for Conservative Friends of Israel, the British-Israel Chamber of Commerce, and a €500,000 emergency-service donation could not be corroborated and are unverified. No public evidence identified of formal state-academic partnerships, Brand Israel sponsorships, or Unilever-directed logistics or infrastructure support for Israeli state or military efforts during the current conflict.30

Named Entities and Evidence Map

EntityAudit-documented relationship or finding
Alan Jope2021 statements of commitment to Israel and rejection of BDS support.2, 28
Ben & Jerry’s independent boardAnnounced 2021 settlement-sales halt; subsequently litigated against Unilever over the 2022 transaction and later Gaza-related governance claims.6, 17
Nelson PeltzJoined Unilever’s board in 2022; documented as a Simon Wiesenthal Center co-chair, with no public evidence identified of specified Israeli military-welfare donations.13
US state pension bodiesAnti-BDS divestment actions or considerations following the Ben & Jerry’s 2021 decision.16

Complicity Index Score

Method: V6.

DomainIMPV-Domain Score
Military0.000.000.000.00
Digital1.504.007.500.86
Economic6.607.008.006.60
Political4.607.009.004.60

V_MAX is driven by Economic, reflecting the documented scale and durability of Unilever’s Israeli operating footprint alongside the historical Barkan facility and unresolved reported stake-sale status. Political reflects the Ben & Jerry’s licensing decision and documented public/governance record; Military remains zero because the audit identified no public evidence of a military nexus. The V6 method is scale-free, evidence-only, and human-vetted; scores are fixed as supplied and do not convert unverified allegations or negative findings into affirmative involvement.

Methodology Note

Footnotes

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilever_Israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13

  2. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/7/22/ben-jerrys-parent-firm-unilever-firmly-committed-to-israel ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/86 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  4. https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/unilever-to-sell-west-bank-plant-qqqdkk95 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  5. https://fortune.com/2022/12/16/unilever-ben-jerrys-israel-west-bank-ice-cream/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  6. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-jerrys-israel-parent-company-unilever-reach-deal-to-end-settlement-boycott/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  7. https://www.sibat.mod.gov.il/OurServices/Pages/%E2%80%8BDefense%20and%20HLS%20directory.aspx ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  8. https://www.gov.il/en/pages/_bpress_20102022 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/217410/000021741026000007/ul-20251231.htm ↩ ↩2

  10. https://www.unilever.com/files/unilever-annual-report-and-accounts-2025.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000217410/000021741025000015/ul-20241231.htm ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  12. https://www.unilever.com/files/unilever-directors-remuneration-report-2025.pdf ↩

  13. https://www.jns.org/major-jewish-donor-added-to-board-of-ben-jerrys-parent-company-unilever/ ↩ ↩2

  14. https://www.lawandisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/Topics/BDS/Situations/Ben-Jerry/SDNY-Litigation/gov.uscourts.nysd_.582605.30.0.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  15. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/un-human-rights-office-updates-database-businesses-involved-israeli ↩ ↩2

  16. https://www.jta.org/2021/12/23/politics/illinois-state-pension-board-will-divest-from-unilever-over-ben-and-jerrys-decision-to-stop-selling-ice-cream-in-west-bank ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  17. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/14/ben-jerrys-says-parent-unilever-silenced-it-over-gaza-stance-reuters-reports.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  18. https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5334417/ben-jerrys-ceo-removed-unilever-lawsuit-activism ↩ ↩2

  19. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/17/ben-jerrys-cofounder-leaves-firm-amid-dispute-with-unilever-over-gaza ↩

  20. https://www.whoprofits.org/companies/company/3794 ↩ ↩2

  21. https://www.hcltech.com/sites/default/files/document/open/Unilever.pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. https://kmt.co.il/about-us-two/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  23. https://www.unilevernotices.com/key-terms/key-term-israel-english.html ↩

  24. https://trademarks.justice.gov.il/TradeMarkSearch/ReportView?TMCaseNo=268736 ↩ ↩2

  25. https://www.cyberark.com/podcasts/ep-14-humanizing-cybersecurity/ ↩

  26. https://www.whoprofits.org/publications/report/86 ↩

  27. https://grokipedia.com/page/unilever_israel ↩

  28. https://www.malaymail.com/news/money---international/2021/07/28/unilever-rejects-boycott-movement-ceo-tells-us-based-jewish-groups/1993420 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  29. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-jerrys-board-decries-genocide-in-gaza-in-escalation-of-fight-with-owner/ ↩

  30. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?id=D000030608 ↩