Brazilian Jewish community officials claimed that the Israeli ambassador to Brazil Yossi Shelley has been trying for political reasons to thwart a visit by former defense minister Moshe Yaalon, according to a Yediot Aharonot report.
Yaalon left Saturday night for a visit to Jewish communities in South America and was invited by the JNF and a local Jewish organization to lecture to the local community.
However Shelley, a close associate of prime minister Netanyahu, has allegedly been working to torpedo the visit and told local Jews that whoever participates in the Yaalon event is a 'traitor to the state of Israel.'