North Carolina Latest To Withdraw Retirement Funds From Ben & Jerry’s Over Ice Cream Brand’s Israel Boycott

North Carolina closed out last year by becoming the most recent state to divest its public employee pension from the corporate parent of Ben & Jerry’s over the ice cream company’s boycott of Israel.

North Carolina is a swing state in politics. Other states to pull retirement funds over Ben & Jerry’s boycott of Israel span the traditional political boundaries and include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Texas.   

"We are where we are. We don’t pick which laws to apply and who to apply them to," North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican, told FOX Business in an interview this week. "I wish I never heard of this subject and wish we didn’t have to do what we had to do."

Folwell announced last month that the North Carolina Retirement Systems — which provides retirement benefits for more than 1 million members, including teachers, firefighters, police officers and government employees — is withdrawing $40 million from Ben & Jerry’s and affiliates. This includes its parent company, Unilever PLC, a U.K.-based company.

The North Carolina Department of State Treasurer manages the pension plans’ investments, currently totaling $117.9 billion.

Ben & Jerry’s, a company long known for its left-leaning advocacy, maintained an independent board of directors to continue its activism even after it sold to Unilever. 

It’s not likely Unilever anticipated allowing the popular ice cream brand to have its own board would lead to so many problems, Folwell said.