Beer-Touvia (Israel) (AFP)

Avi Zinger is used to catching smiles on children's lips with her scented ice creams.

But the Israeli, boss of the local Ben & Jerry's franchise, has been plunged into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for several days.

"We will continue to sell everywhere," Mr. Zinger told AFP in his factory in the agricultural village of Beer-Touvia, south of Tel Aviv, where 160 employees work in the summer.

On Monday, the American ice cream maker embarked on the conflict, following calls for a campaign to boycott Jewish settlements in annexed East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

In these Palestinian Territories, some 670,000 Israelis live in settlements considered to be contrary to international law.

In pro-Palestinian circles, the announcement of Ben & Jerry's - which claims progressive commitments and plays the card of environmental protection - was greeted as a victory.

Arab Israeli MP Ayman Odeh posted a photo of himself with a company ice cream jar on social media.

"The regime is doing well," he wrote in the caption to underline his support for the boycott decision.

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Mr. Zinger could in theory be happy about this free publicity.

But the Jewish state immediately responded by launching a counter-campaign against the ice cream maker.

The Israeli government has fiercely fought for years the BDS movement, which calls for an economic, cultural or academic boycott of Israel aimed at obtaining an end to the occupation and colonization in the Palestinian Territories.

- "Alarm bell" -

Israel's ambassador to the United States has called on 35 American states to use anti-BDS laws they have passed against Ben & Jerry's, which consider the boycott of Israel "anti-Semitic".

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the management of Unilever, the food giant owned by the brand, while President Isaac Herzog called the boycott decision "economic terrorism".

"But the president should thank Ben & Jerry's because they sounded the alarm bells: either Israel hears the message and works to end its occupation, or it will face a total boycott," the Authority said. Palestinian.

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The American manufacturer, however, clarified that it would remain in Israel, although its products are no longer sold in the occupied territories.

Regardless, Avi Zinger fears for his ice cream and says he wants to sell to everyone: Palestinians and Israelis, whether they live in Tel Aviv or in a settlement.

He says he does not have "the right to refuse anyone to buy ice cream" when the mercury exceeds 35 degrees in summer in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

According to Zinger, it is in the face of its refusal to comply that the manufacturer has decided not to renew its license agreement, which expires at the end of next year.

In the meantime, the Beer-Touvia factory continues to operate, but employees are worried about their jobs.

- "Separate politics and ice cream" -

"I fear for my job and those of my friends who work here," Ayelet Damlao, 38, told AFP.

"It's not easy to suddenly discover that you can lose your job" for a story of ice, laments the quality controller.

On Israeli social networks, calls to boycott the ice cream parlor grew, before the trend quickly reversed and Israelis rushed to support the local franchise opposed to the American brand's decision.

"I came to support Ben & Jerry's in Israel, which refused to comply with the group's demand to no longer sell in the occupied territories and which will continue to sell to everyone," Moshé Weizman told AFP. came to get supplies in the factory store with his wife and two sons.

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"We have to separate politics and ice cream, that has nothing to do with it," continues the man from the town of Ofakim, further south.

"Even more people than before come to buy ice cream to support us," says Omer Granada, 19, an ice cream seller.

As a convinced "optimist", Avi Zinger, who imported the brand 35 years ago, hopes that Ben & Jerry's will back down, like Airbnb in 2019.

The online accommodation booking platform had announced that it was withdrawing from making offers in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

But Airbnb, sued in Israel, had reversed its decision.

© 2021 AFP