Israel’s envoy to Brazil Yossi Shelley has found himself in hot water after his embassy shared an image of him eating lobster with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro despite the Torah prohibiting jews from eating shellfish.
The embassy tried to conceal the fact that he was chowing down on non-kosher food with a bizarrely archaic and lackluster attempt at obscuring the offending crustaceans from view. The two shared lunch before attending the Brazil-Peru final of the Copa America soccer tournament at the Maracana stadium.
The failed attempt at surreptitiously censoring the seafood prompted mass ridicule and mockery online, with many trying their hand at equally laughable attempts. Writer Ben Judah joked that the embassy applied “Mossad level cover up skills” before sharing the image.
Shelley was appointed as Israel's ambassador to Brazil in January 2017 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He enjoys favor with the Brazilian President, having been awarded the National Order of the Southern Cross, Brazil’s highest national honor for high-ranking guests.
Brazilian-Israeli relations have warmed greatly since Bolsonaro’s election, particularly after the Brazilian president promised to move the country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and despite his rather inflammatory comments about the Holocaust.
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