WORLD : Rabbi Hits Non-Kosher Leaders

JERUSALEM — The diet of Israeli leaders became a political issue today after a powerful rabbi privately accused several politicians of eating non-kosher foods such as pork and shellfish.

The accusations against Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and others were secretly recorded as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef spoke to other religious leaders at a Jewish seminary on Thursday night.

Yosef’s comments were the lead item on both Israel and armed forces radio stations this morning and were quoted on the front page of the daily Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

Yosef, the spiritual mentor of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, said of Shamir: “He eats only impure fish. That’s what he likes, he’s dying for it.”

He also said of Ariel Sharon, a leading right-wing figure: “He doesn’t eat shellfish, but he really loves pork.”