Target: McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD)
Audit Phase: V-ECON (Economic Forensics)
Date: 2026-05-01
Scope: Economic relationships, supply chain exposure, capital flows, operational presence, and structural ties relevant to Israeli-market activity.
No verified public evidence exists of a direct commercial relationship between McDonald’s Corporation (global) and named Israeli agricultural exporters — including Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export, or successor entities to the liquidated Agrexco — in public procurement records, trade press, or NGO databases.711
Agrexco, the former state-backed Israeli agricultural export company, was dissolved in 2011. Successor export entities such as Mehadrin Export continue Israeli produce exports, but no documented supply contract with McDonald’s Corporation or any of its European subsidiaries has been identified in publicly accessible records.7 No public evidence has been identified of McDonald’s sourcing Medjool dates, avocados, citrus, or fresh herbs from Israeli exporters for its international menu supply chain.11
McDonald’s Israel (franchise operations; see Operational Presence below) sourced food locally within Israel through domestic suppliers under the terms of its franchise agreement with McDonald’s Corporation. The specific names of domestic Israeli agricultural suppliers to the Israeli franchise are not publicly disclosed in corporate filings.815
McDonald’s Corporation operates as a franchisor — not a direct food retailer — in virtually all international markets and does not act as importer of record for produce in franchised territories.3 In Israel, the master franchise was held by Alonyal Limited, an Israeli-registered private company, from approximately 1993 until October 2023.1215 Alonyal managed its own supply chain, sourcing, and any importation within Israel under local franchise obligations; McDonald’s Corporation was not the importer of record for goods consumed at Israeli locations.12
No public evidence has been identified of recurring seasonal procurement by McDonald’s — globally or in European markets — from Israeli suppliers during counter-seasonal supply windows (December–April).11 No evidence has been identified of Israeli-origin products reaching McDonald’s shelves in non-Israeli markets via third-party distributors or white-label arrangements.11
No published NGO investigation — including those conducted by Who Profits Research Center and the Corporate Occupation project — has produced specific documented findings identifying McDonald’s-branded products sold outside Israel as containing settlement-origin goods mislabeled as “Produce of Israel.”7 The Who Profits corporate profile for McDonald’s addresses the franchise’s physical presence in Israel and the IDF meals incident (see Operational Presence below), but does not document a settlement-origin product supply chain.7
No enforcement actions by DEFRA, EU customs authorities, or US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) against McDonald’s Corporation for mislabeling of settlement-origin produce have been identified in public records.11
No documented compliance citations or enforcement actions against McDonald’s Corporation regarding country-of-origin labeling for Israeli or settlement-produced goods have been identified in public records.11
No public evidence has been identified of a McDonald’s corporate policy specifically addressing the sourcing or labeling of goods from occupied or contested territories. McDonald’s publishes a Supplier Code of Conduct and a Sustainable Sourcing framework; neither document addresses settlement-origin goods.814
McDonald’s Corporation held no publicly disclosed direct capital investment in Israel — in the form of owned real estate, factories, logistics infrastructure, or data centres — through the franchise period ending October 2023. Israeli operations were wholly franchised to Alonyal Limited, reflecting a capital-light model.315
In October 2023, McDonald’s Corporation repurchased the Israeli franchise from Alonyal Limited, bringing approximately 225 restaurant locations back under McDonald’s corporate control.612 Financial terms of the repurchase were not publicly disclosed.16 This transaction represented a structural shift from a purely franchised model to a corporate-owned operational presence, constituting a form of direct capital re-entry into the Israeli market.612
No public evidence has been identified of McDonald’s R&D facilities, technology partnerships, innovation labs, or accelerator programmes operating within Israel.314
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a publicly traded company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.3 Largest institutional shareholders include Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street, each holding large passive index positions; none of these positions reflect exposure specific to Israeli market activity.3 No private equity sponsor or Israeli-domiciled beneficial owner holds a controlling interest in McDonald’s Corporation.3
No public evidence has been identified of McDonald’s Corporation or its directly controlled subsidiaries holding Israeli sovereign bonds, Israeli-domiciled equities, or Israel-focused investment funds as disclosed portfolio assets.3
McDonald’s Israel operated approximately 225 restaurant locations under the Alonyal franchise as of early 2023.2 All documented locations are understood to fall within Israel’s 1948 Green Line boundary; no McDonald’s locations have been documented within internationally recognized occupied territories — the West Bank, Gaza, or the Golan Heights — in verified public records.7
In October 2023, following the October 7 Hamas attack and the subsequent IDF meals controversy, Alonyal Limited announced the sale of the Israeli franchise back to McDonald’s Corporation.612 As of early 2024, locations continued to operate under the McDonald’s brand under corporate management.12
In October 2023, McDonald’s Israel — then under Alonyal management — provided free meals to Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack.456 The incident was widely reported internationally and triggered organised boycott calls against McDonald’s globally.4513
McDonald’s Corporation publicly distanced itself from the provision of IDF meals, characterising the decision as one made unilaterally by the local franchisee (Alonyal) and stating it did not reflect corporate policy.69 The reputational and commercial fallout nonetheless attributed to McDonald’s as a brand.9
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczyk acknowledged in the Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 earnings calls that the Middle East boycott had produced meaningful comparable sales pressure across the broader Middle East and Muslim-majority markets.910 McDonald’s reported sales declines in Muslim-majority countries extending into mid-2024, including in markets with no direct Israeli operational exposure.10 No Israel-specific revenue figures were disclosed in any public filing.3
Exact workforce figures for McDonald’s Israel are not publicly disclosed in corporate filings. Israeli business press estimates cited approximately 5,000–6,000 employees across the ~225 locations as of 2022–2023.1 McDonald’s Israel is registered as a business entity in Israel and is subject to Israeli corporate tax; specific tax contribution figures are not publicly available.15
McDonald’s Corporation does not segment Israel as a distinct geographic market in its annual reports or investor presentations. Israel is grouped within the International Developmental Licensed (IDL) Markets segment, which encompasses Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa combined.3 No characterisation of Israel as a strategic growth market, regional hub, or minor export market appears in public filings or earnings calls.310
McDonald’s Corporation was founded in the United States. Ray Kroc incorporated the modern McDonald’s system in 1955 in Illinois. The company has no Israeli founding history, Israeli-origin intellectual property, or Israeli-origin brand identity.3
McDonald’s Corporation is legally domiciled in the State of Delaware and maintains its operational headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. No dual or legacy Israeli headquarters exists.3
No Israeli state ownership stake, government board appointee, government contract, or critical national infrastructure designation has been identified in public records.315 McDonald’s Israel has no documented designation as critical infrastructure by the Israeli government.15
No public evidence has been identified of golden shares, founder shares, charter restrictions, or any governance mechanism structurally tying McDonald’s Corporation’s operations or mission to the Israeli state or its policy objectives.3
McDonald’s Corporation does not disclose Israel-specific revenue figures. Israel falls within the IDL segment, which contributed approximately $2.0–2.1 billion in total revenues to McDonald’s in FY2022–2023; this figure is not disaggregated by country.3
Under the pre-October 2023 franchise model, Alonyal — an Israeli private entity — collected consumer revenues in Israel and remitted royalty and service fees to McDonald’s Corporation (US-domiciled). Profits net of royalties accrued within Alonyal and remained within the Israeli entity.12
Following the October 2023 repurchase, McDonald’s Corporation assumed direct operational control. Operational profits from Israeli locations now flow to McDonald’s Corporation (US-domiciled) rather than remaining with a local Israeli entity.612 The direction of net profit flow reversed: from retained in Israel (Alonyal era) to repatriated to the United States (McDonald’s Corp post-repurchase). This represents a structural change in economic contribution to the Israeli economy — the Israeli franchise transition reduced the share of profits remaining onshore in Israel.
No publicly available government or industry designation characterises McDonald’s as a key employer, sector anchor, or infrastructure provider within the Israeli economy.15 McDonald’s Israel is noted in Israeli business press as a significant participant in Israel’s quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector, competing with Burger King Israel, KFC Israel, and local chains.1 No formal government economic designation has been identified.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/mcdonalds-israel-franchise-sold-amid-gaza-war-boycott-calls-2023-10-18/ ↩↩↩
https://www.timesofisrael.com/mcdonalds-israel-franchise-sold-to-local-operators-amid-boycott-pressure/ ↩
https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=MCD&type=10-K&dateb=&owner=include&count=10 ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/19/mcdonalds-israel-gives-free-food-to-idf-soldiers-prompting-boycott-calls ↩↩
https://bdsmovement.net/news/mcdonalds-israel-free-meals-idf ↩↩
https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/scale-for-good/our-planet/sustainable-sourcing.html ↩↩
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/05/mcdonalds-ceo-israel-boycott-impact.html ↩↩↩
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/companies/mcdonalds/ ↩↩↩↩↩↩
https://apnews.com/article/mcdonalds-israel-franchise-sold-boycott ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/boycott-mcdonalds-israel-bds-campaign ↩
https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/scale-for-good.html ↩↩
