A dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and their wives last week was interrupted by an offensive cultural faux pas: Dessert was served in a shoe.

Shoes are "despised" in Japanese culture, a senior Israeli diplomat who had served in Japan told a newspaper — and in any case, it's a weird idea to serve food out of a shoe.

A Japanese diplomat called it offensive and questioned what the meal, prepared by an Israeli celebrity chef, was trying to accomplish.

A dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and their wives last week was interrupted by an offensive cultural faux pas: Dessert was served in a shoe.

While serving food in a shoe seems like an odd choice for any culture, it has an especially offensive connotation in Japan.

"This was a stupid and insensitive decision," a senior Israeli diplomat who served in Japan told the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Aharonot, according to The Jerusalem Post.

"There is nothing more despised in Japanese culture than shoes," the diplomat said. "Not only do they not enter their houses while wearing shoes, you will not find shoes in their offices either. Even the prime minister, ministers and members of parliament do not wear shoes to work ... It is equivalent to serving a Jewish guest chocolates in a dish shaped like a pig."

Chocolate selection from the world 🌎 by #SegevArt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / A metal shoe by @tomdixonstudio A post shared by segevmoshe (@segevmoshe) on May 6, 2018 at 10:57pm PDT May 6, 2018 at 10:57pm PDT

It's unclear what message the Israeli celebrity chef Segev Moshe, who prepared the dinner, was trying to send by serving the chocolates in a shoe, but it caused an uproar.

"No culture puts shoes on the table," a Japanese diplomat told Yedioth Aharonot, according to The Post. "What precisely was this illustrious chef Segev thinking? If this is meant to be humor, we do not find it funny. I can tell you that we are offended for our prime minister."

Prime Minister of Israel 🇮🇱 and his wife ❤️ host the Prime Minister of Japan 🇯🇵 Great honor to cook for you! Not obvious for me #unforgettable night ❤️🇮🇱 A post shared by segevmoshe (@segevmoshe) on May 2, 2018 at 1:04pm PDT May 2, 2018 at 1:04pm PDT

The Times of Israel described an author and TV personality who's close to the celebrity chef as saying the shoes were metal sculptures.