McDonald’s Israel has refused to open a branch in the settlement of Ariel which is built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. The company was offered space in a shopping mall being built in the settlement but, said one of the brokers involved in trying to market the site, McDonald’s declined because the settlement is beyond the 1949 Armistice (“Green”) Line.
Tzahi Nahmias pointed out that this is not the first time that an international company has refused to open branches in the mall, fearing the effect on their international operations if they did so.
According to the Jerusalem Post, McDonald’s has always had a company policy of refusing to operate in the West Bank.