A new boycott campaign is gaining momentum in the ultra-Orthodox sector against products owned by the Central Bottling Company, which is controlled by businessman Dudi Wertheim, who also owns Channel 12. The push comes amid rising tensions over military conscription and the detention of draft evaders, after recent road blockages and a large Gur Hasidim protest outside Prison 10.
According to a report on the ultra-Orthodox site Bably, the campaign is targeting the companies in Wertheim’s business group because activists say it is unacceptable that the same owner who, in their view, “incites against us” on Channel 12 also profits from their shopping. They accuse Channel 12’s news coverage of conducting “organized, extreme incitement” against the ultra-Orthodox public on the draft issue.
The immediate targets are Coca-Cola and all its brands, Tara dairy, Prigat, Neviot, and the Carlsberg and Tuborg beer brands. Organizers say the goal is to hit Wertheim financially, arguing that moral and public pressure has not affected Channel 12’s management, but losses on the balance sheet might.
Ultra-Orthodox consumers are seen as heavy buyers of sweet drinks and dairy products, so supporters of the boycott believe it could cause significant damage. For now, it is circulating in internal forums and groups, but activists say that if the social tensions over conscription continue, it could become an official directive affecting store shelves in ultra-Orthodox communities across Israel. Channel 12 said it would continue reporting on the exemption-from-service issue “without fear,” and opposed boycott calls against Israeli companies as well as “methods of intimidation and threats” toward channel owners.
