June 30, 2022

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s Statement on Unilever’s Israel Decision

(AUSTIN) — I am pleased to see Unilever’s recent statement affirming its support for Israel: “Unilever rejects completely and repudiates unequivocally any form of discrimination or intolerance. Antisemitism has no place in any society. We have never expressed any support for the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement and have no intention of changing that position.”

Texas has a long history of supporting Israel and the Israeli people, and the effort by Unilever to reach an agreement is a testament to the importance of that support. I applaud Unilever for taking the time to better understand the complexities of the situation and the unforeseen repercussions of its initial decision. 

My office will carefully review the details of the new arrangement before coming to a final decision on removing Unilever or Ben & Jerry’s from our list of companies that boycott Israel, and will communicate with Unilever should we need additional information.

Other Comptroller-maintained divestment statute lists and relevant Texas Government Code provisions can be found on the Comptroller’s website.