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Canada is also one of the countries where protests against the chain have taken place.
McDonald's will buy back all of its restaurants in Israel following a boycott of the brand, which was criticized for providing thousands of free meals to Israeli soldiers.
The fast food giant announced that it has reached an agreement with franchisee Aronjal to return 225 stores nationwide that employ 5,000 people.
The company acknowledged in January that the dispute had “significantly impacted” its business.
Widespread protests have affected sales in the Middle East, Indonesia and France.
Aronyar, led by CEO Omri Padan, has operated McDonald's restaurants in Israel for more than 30 years.
McDonald's uses a franchise system, where individual operators are allowed to operate stores and hire staff.
The McDonald's boycott came after Muslim-majority countries such as Kuwait, Malaysia and Pakistan issued statements distancing themselves from the company, which is seen as supporting Israel.
Vocal protests took place around the world as grassroots boycotts spread beyond the Middle East. McDonald's operations in France, Indonesia and Malaysia were affected, as well as restaurants in the region.
“McDonald's remains focused on the Israeli market and remains committed to ensuring a positive experience for employees and customers in the market,” the company said Thursday. He also thanked Mr. Aronyar for building the brand in Israel.
“I'm encouraged by future developments,” Padan said.
The U.S. company said the terms of the sale were not disclosed, but its Israeli restaurants, offices and employees would be retained “on comparable terms.”
At the start of the year, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski said the backlash was due to “misinformation,” but it still hurt the company's finances and hit its quarterly sales target for the first time in nearly four years. could not.
McDonald's called the boycott “disappointing and baseless.” The company relies on thousands of independent businesses to own and operate most of its more than 40,000 stores around the world. Approximately 5% are located in the Middle East.
“McDonald's is proudly represented by local owner-operators in every country in which we operate, including Islamic countries,” Kempczinski said at the time.
“As long as this war continues… we cannot expect any significant improvement.” [in these markets]” added the McDonald's boss.
The company will be hoping that by bringing its Israeli operations back into its own hands, it can restore its reputation in the Middle East and once again hit key sales targets.
Much of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed in an Israeli military operation that began after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages. Approximately 130 of the hostages remain in captivity, and at least 34 of them are estimated to have died.
More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the region's Hamas-run health ministry.
