Jeffrey Epstein‘s deep links to Israel‘s political, financial and security networks are revealed in a new episode of the Daily Mail’s Covert Connections podcast.
They include an unusually close friendship with an Israeli ex-prime minister, Israeli security inside an Epstein-controlled Manhattan apartment, and emails about former Mossad agents – as well as investment in the country’s defence tech.
None of the connections provide a smoking gun for rumours that Epstein worked for Israeli intelligence, but together they show how the convicted sex offender maintained access to the most powerful elements of the Israeli state.
The paedophile financier struck up an ‘unusually close friendship’ with the country’s former premier Ehud Barak, who served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001 and Minster of Defence from 2007 to 2013.
Barak is one of the most prominent figures appearing in Epstein’s correspondence and even visited Epstein’s infamous island.
Epstein invited Barak and his wife to his private Caribbean island, Little St James, with travel emails showing discussions about visiting in 2014.
Later that year, Barak’s wife sent a travel itinerary confirming a trip to St Thomas, near the island.
Days later, Barak emailed Epstein thanking him for his hospitality and complimented him on his ‘Great, impressive island’, although there is no suggestion that he was involved in any wrongdoing.
Paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s deep links to Israel’s power networks are revealed in a new episode of the Daily Mail’s Covert Connections podcast
The paedophile financier struck up an ‘unusually close friendship’ with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak (pictured)
Covert Cohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGZn4j2l2Jknnections: Inside Epstein’s Connections to Israel’s Power Network
Before entering politics, Barak had spent decades at the highest levels of Israel’s military and security establishment, eventually becoming Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)
Emails show that Epstein and Barak developed an unusually close relationship after Barak left government.
In September 2013, Epstein wrote to the former Israeli PM offering his services as a financial adviser, promising a huge return on any investment.
‘We both know that with my involvement at a senior level you will be able to achieve, not so many but at least few hundred million more than without my help,’ Epstein wrote.
In the correspondence, Epstein indicated he had already been paid at least five million dollars, and proposed a two-million-dollar annual retainer, plus a percentage of profits.
The emails suggest Epstein was acting as a financial adviser and deal-maker for the former Israeli leader.
But some of the ventures they discussed went far beyond conventional business.
One example involved an Israeli startup called Light and Strong, which was developing solar-powered, high-altitude drones.
Epstein invited Barak and his wife to his private Caribbean island, Little St James,although there is no suggesting that Mr Barak was involved in any wrongdoing while there
A picture from the Epstein Files of the paedophile financier with two young women in lingerie
The company produced aerospace and military components for Israel’s defence industry, but the emails also show the technology had potential intelligence applications, including surveillance.
Epstein also intervened at times to discourage Barak from making certain financial commitments.
In October 2014, Barak told Epstein that Israeli businessman Ofer Amir had asked him to join the company as chairman and potentially invest.
Barak wrote: ‘They would like me to join as Chairman and to consider investing up to 1 Million dollars based on 13 million dollars pre-money as part of a round that will raise 3 Million dollars.’
Over the following weeks, Epstein and his lawyer reviewed the company’s financial documents in a series of email exchanges.
Epstein eventually rejected the deal outright, writing in one email: ‘This is crazy… the people writing this have no financial knowledge… depreciation has nothing to do with cashflow… STAY AWAY.’
Epstein’s role in Barak’s world went beyond financial advice, the emails also show him https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGZn4j2l2Jkhimself as the lynchpin in a global network of connections.
The emails show Epstein offering to link Barak with politicians, billionaires, and intellectuals around the world, including former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, philosopher Noam Chomsky, and film director Woody Allen.
In one exchange from 2013, Epstein even encouraged Barak to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin while visiting Moscow.
‘I think you should let Putin know you will be in Moscow. See if he wants private time,’ Epstein wrote.
According to later reporting by Drop Site News, Barak did meet Putin that year, but the meeting failed to shift Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian civil war.
The emails also show Epstein advising Barak on how to cultivate relationships with influential financiers.
Epstein replied with what reads almost like relationship coaching, telling him the approach needed was: ‘time. attention. stable. recurring. PREDICTABLE’.
After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, Barak acknowledged the relationship but denied participating in any activities involving women or girls.
A massage bed and erotic artwork and photos on the walls in Epstein’s Manhattan mansion
One of the most unsettling images released by the DOJ shows a life-sized bronze sculpture of a woman or girl dressed in a bridal gown. The photos were taken in 2019 at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse after his arrest as part of the FBI’s investigation into his sex trafficking
Aside from his connections with senior Israeli political figures, Israeli government security was also operating inside a property controlled by Epstein.
Although technically owned by a company tied to Epstein’s brother, his Manhattan apartment building was effectively controlled by Jeffrey Epstein.
Former Prime Minister Barak frequently stayed there during visits to New York and under Israeli law, former prime ministers receive state security protection.
Emails, highlighted in an investigation by Drop Site News, show Israeli officials coordinating directly with Epstein’s staff to install alarms, window sensors, and surveillance equipment inside the apartment.
Barak’s wife explained in one email that the system could be remotely controlled.
‘They can neutralize the system from far, before you need somebody to enter the appartment… The only thing to do is call Rafi from the consulate and let him know who and when is entering,’ she wrote.
The Israeli official overseeing the operation was Rafi Shlomo, head of protective services at Israel’s mission to the United Nations.
Shlomo coordinated access to the apartment and even conducted background checks on cleaners and Epstein employees.
The arrangement meant Israeli government security personnel were operating inside a building controlled by Epstein.
The files also contain a more direct reference to Israeli intelligence, including direct refences to the country’s security services Mossad.
In November 2017, Epstein emailed Barak about the lawyer David Boies, who at the time was representing Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Weinstein had been accused in the press of hiring private intelligence firms staffed by former Israeli agents to investigate and intimidate women who had accused him of sexual assault.
Epstein asked Mr Barak: ‘Did Boies ask you to help Obtain former mossad agents to do dirty investigations. This is getting a lot of press’
The message suggests Epstein believed Barak might be able to access former Israeli intelligence operatives.
The emails do not show whether such a request was ever made.
A year later, Epstein made a joking reference to the rumours surrounding him. In an email to Barak he wrote: ‘You should make clear that I don’t work for Mossad :)’
The tone suggests Epstein was aware of speculation about intelligence links, although the emails themselves provide no evidence that he worked for Mossad.
Barak has since expressed regret about maintaining contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 following the release of the latest Epstein files, Barak said he had not fully understood the nature of Epstein’s crimes at the time.
Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell (right) is the daughter of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991 after falling from his yacht in suspcious circumstances. Mr Maxwell has long been alleged to have had connections to Israel’s intelligence services
The YouTube show also explores the links between Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and Israeli intelligence.
Ghislaine was the daughter of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991 after falling from his yacht in suspcious circumstances.
For decades, journalists and intelligence historians have alleged Maxwell had connections to Israel’s intelligence services.
Some accounts claim he provided Israeli intelligence with information gathered through his international business and political contacts.
After his death, Maxwell received a state funeral in Israel and was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Those allegations remain contested, but they form part of the broader context surrounding Epstein’s network.
