It’s summer, and one inviting break from the heat — at least for me — is ice cream. But I’m going to be extra careful in the weeks ahead with what is going into my cones.

Ice cream titan Ben & Jerry’s announced last week that it would soon end its relationship with a manufacturing partner in Israel, and it will cease distribution of its product in the West Bank. The company said it was “inconsistent with our values” for its sweets to be available for purchase in “the Occupied Palestinian Territory” — a term that by itself is very telling of the company’s outlook on Israel.

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Ben & Jerry’s is no stranger to progressive politics, but press coverage suggests the business had been under pressure from outside groups to take such a stand. Notably, the Associate Press (AP) reported that leaders in the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement lauded the decision and said, “We hope that Ben & Jerry’s has understood that, in harmony with its social justice commitments, there can be no business as usual with apartheid Israel.”

Thankfully, the new boycott has not gone unchallenged. In fact, it has set off a firestorm for the company.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called it “an immoral decision.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry added that it was “discriminatory, as it singles out Israel, harms both Israelis and Palestinians and encourages extremist groups who use bullying tactics.”

The Foreign Ministry also reportedly sent out a cable to its diplomats just days after Ben & Jerry’s announcement stirring a priority campaign against the move. That campaign is having enough success that even company founders Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who have no operational control over their namesake business, felt compelled to take to the New York Times editorial page to defend it.

Why such a push against Ben & Jerry’s? Certainly, delicious ice cream will still be readily accessible throughout Israel, so the loss of Ben & Jerry’s is not devastating. But it’s the precedent such a move could make. As AP noted, this decision is “one of the strongest and highest-profile rebukes by a well-known company” of Israeli homes in territories won more than 50 years ago in the 1967 Six-Day War. It’s a potentially perilous new development and not one that Israel and its allies want to spread to others in the business world that are friendly with or fearful of BDS progressives.

Thanks to persistent advocacy by friends of Israel for years, laws and orders against BDS policies are actually already on the books in dozens of states. And some officials are now looking to see if Ben & Jerry’s has run afoul of them.

For example, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has formally notified his state’s Board of Administration that Ben & Jerry’s plan to pull “its products and prohibit the sale of its ice cream in Judea and Samaria…. fall squarely within the prohibited activities” of state law. DeSantis wants Ben & Jerry’s on a special scrutiny list that could lead to financial separation between the state and the company if it does not change its ways.

Similarly, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) called the boycott “disgraceful and an insult to America’s closest ally in the Middle East.” His state’s comptroller is now looking to see if Ben & Jerry’s violated Texas statute. Illinois, led by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D), is also reportedly opening such an investigation.

These are serious steps, but the situation is not irreversible. A few years ago — facing similar blowback — Airbnb walked back a decision to stop listing rental homes in the West Bank. Ben & Jerry’s could take a hard look at its position and realize its misstep as well.

In the meantime, I suspect many Israelis and their friends around the world will resonate with a tweet by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Now we Israelis know which ice cream NOT to buy.”

What are your thoughts on this article? Let us know in the comments below!

Aaron Mercer is a Contributing Writer with two decades of experience in Washington, D.C.’s public policy arena.