A tweet by the Israeli Embassy in Brazil featuring a photo of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Israeli envoy Yossi Shelley, which was apparently supposed to demonstrate the close ties between the two countries, turned out to be a major blunder after netizens noticed that the image had been flagrantly doctored.
Antes da final da Copa América entre Brasil e Peru, o presidente @jairbolsonaro e o @embaixadoryossi almoçaram juntos em Brasília. Eles irão acompanhar a partida desejando sorte para a seleção brasileira em busca de mais um título. Vai Brasil!! pic.twitter.com/trDHb0ftCh
— Israel no Brasil (@IsraelinBrazil) July 7, 2019
The photo showed the two having lunch ahead of the Copa America final, but their dishes were covered in semi-transparent patches of black paint in what many netizens saw as an attempt to conceal the meal. Despite the attempt, watchful eyes noted that both the envoy and the president were eating shellfish, likely lobster, which is considered non-kosher in Judaism.
Many Twitterians laughed at the embassy's attempt to hide the crustaceans and wondered why it even tried to do so in the first place.
"They censored the lobster!!!!" a user called Dudu Franco tweeted.
But most netizens derided the embassy for doing such sloppy work in trying to doctor the image, with many of them offering their own "improved" versions of it.
That's some really lazy photoshopping of the lobster. pic.twitter.com/lcHq3yaZOZ
— Dork Web Cavy Fancier (@friendly_gravy) July 7, 2019
"Wow, you couldn't even see those HUGE LOBSTERS hidden behind paint", a different user, under the handle lagosta censurada, added.
Ajudei vcs e fiz um trabalho melhor no photoshop. De nada. Tem até umas laranjinhas pro presida ficar saudável pic.twitter.com/t7dQBmoU3E
— Xamander (@andre_llucas) July 7, 2019
One Twitterian noted that the embassy could simply have cropped the lower third of the image instead of sloppily doctoring it.
Gente, algum de vocês já parou pra pensar que bastava CORTAR a foto?
— Vudu Reverso (@VuduReverso) July 8, 2019
Vocês tão andando muito com bolsominions. Estão até pegando a doença. pic.twitter.com/QH34glLkNH
Since Brazil elected its new President Jair Bolsonaro, the country has been seeking to improve relations with Israel. As part of this policy, Brazil opened a "diplomatic office" in Jerusalem at the end of March, hoping that it would strengthen trade and cooperation between the two states.