After months of antagonism, mutual accusations and pressure reaching the heart of the White House, President Donald Trump walked out on the evening of 19 November 2025 and dropped the political bomb everyone had been waiting for: he signed the bill forcing his administration to release the files of Jeffrey Epstein, whose name became associated with one of the worst sexual‑exploitation scandals in U.S. history.
Trump, in his characteristic combative manner, announced on his platform Truth Social: “I just signed the bill to publish the Epstein files!” He did not stop there, accusing his Democratic opponents once again of “hiding the truth” and obstructing what he described as “the most dangerous file in Washington”, following intense pressure within his own party, as his close associates began openly turning on him at the forefront was the rebel congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in addition to a media wave and public opinion in recent weeks demanding the unmasking of the documents.
The law passed by Congress on 19 November obliges the Department of Justice to publish the non‑classified documents within no more than thirty days, and includes files related to Epstein who was found hanged in his jail cell in 2019 and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison, in addition to all the names involved in the legal proceedings linked to the case.
What is striking is that the importance of these documents does not lie only in Epstein’s sexual crimes, but in the sensitive network of relations he wove with top‑tier political, economic and cultural figures fuelling suspicions that his death may have been an assassination to prevent the exposure of embarrassing files that could topple major heads.
The Israeli dimension emerges as one of the most sensitive aspects of the Epstein file, as over the past years revelations have shown complex connections linking him with influential Israeli figures, and leaks hint at ties with institutions related to Israeli intelligence services which opens the door to a question that continues to haunt Washington and Tel Aviv alike: what is the true nature of Epstein’s relationship with Israeli security circles?
Epstein‑Barak… a complex network of interests
The leaked Epstein files headline a new wave of political storms, after they revealed one of the most controversial relationships in the U.S. and Israeli scenes: the relationship of the mysterious financier with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
A relationship that no longer remains mere backstage whispers but is now told as a complex network of interests, in which Epstein is said to have played the role of “influence broker” and perhaps an unannounced adviser. Some leaks show his continued communication with Barak even after Barak’s 2008 indictment.
The documents reveal that Epstein met Barak around 30 times between 2013 and 2017, including visits to his homes in Florida and New York, and a trip on his private jet in 2014; Epstein also injected US$1 million into the security‑technology company Carbyne, co‑founded by Barak.
Although Barak met Epstein in 2002 via the late Israeli President Shimon Peres, he repeatedly denied any continuing relationship with Epstein’s illegal activities. However, these financial, political and personal intertwinings turned into a political bomb in Israel’s 2019 election when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an investigation into payments of US$2.3 million that Barak had received from the Wexner Foundation linked to Epstein.
And while Epstein’s Israeli network did not stop with Barak, it extended to current Prime Minister Netanyahu as well, according to leaked emails in a legal case in the U.S. Virgin Islands against JPMorgan Chase, which revealed that Epstein had arranged a 2011 meeting between Netanyahu and bank officials to discuss funding for his political activities highlighting his role as an influence intermediary reaching the highest political levels.
Deepening Israeli influence in Africa
The electronic documents published by the investigative site Drop Site reveal threads of an influence network stretching from New York to Abidjan, where Epstein played a role beyond that of a shadowy businessman he acted as a behind‑the‑scenes intermediary facilitating Israel’s security expansion inside Africa.
According to the leaks, Epstein worked to facilitate sensitive security negotiations between Israel and Côte d’Ivoire, under the direct support of Barak, to prepare for the establishment of a comprehensive surveillance system enabling Israel to secure an advanced intelligence foothold in one of Africa’s most important states.
The correspondence shows that from 2012 Epstein and Barak operated as back channels between officials in President Alassane Ouattara’s government and Israeli officials, to market Israeli surveillance‑communications technology and expand Israel’s intelligence presence in the continent. Later this evolved into a formal security agreement signed in 2014 after the UN partially lifted its arms embargo on Côte d’Ivoire.
The documents indicate that the agreement allowed Israel to bolster the influence of its local allies via security technologies in politically authoritarian environments. Epstein’s messages show he was in frequent contact with senior officials near Ouattara and coordinated secret visits and contacts between Barak and Ivorian officials in New York and Abidjan.
Other documents show Barak continued his clandestine activities after leaving office, using front‑companies for negotiations. The evidence indicates he personally orchestrated high‑level visits, including a 2013 visit to Abidjan where he discussed with Ouattara and his officials the restructuring of the intelligence agency thus the picture drawn by the documents is a complex network combining money, politics and intelligence, operating beyond official diplomacy.
Financing the Israeli offensive cyber‑intelligence ecosystem
New documents released by the U.S. Congressional oversight body, alongside leaked emails from Barak’s inbox, have revealed the hidden face of Epstein’s relations. He did not limit himself to being an influence broker but transformed into a strategic architect of a global finance network aimed at supporting Israel’s offensive computing industry.
The documents show how Epstein leveraged his close friendship with Ariane de Rothschild, chair of Edmond de Rothschild Group, to facilitate the financing of sensitive cyber‑intelligence projects linked to Israeli intelligence, in parallel with Barak’s earlier activity in Unit 81 of the Israeli military intelligence.
The emails indicate a deeper connection between Epstein and de Rothschild than the bank officially acknowledged Epstein arranged private meetings and joint travel, and passed direct messages from de Rothschild to Barak that included an explicit offer: “Our close relationship will open the doors of major money to you.”
In exchange, Barak relied on Epstein’s personal advice on how to “build that relationship” and exploit it politically and financially, while Epstein positioned himself as the link between global elite political circles and international finance.
The leaks also point to Epstein’s efforts to convince de Rothschild to invest in Israeli offensive cyber‑companies via a joint fund, while Barak coordinated with Israeli intelligence experts to convert covert offensive tools into commercial companies targeting global markets.
The two were also in contact with senior Swiss bankers such as Julius Baer, despite these banks being investigated for money‑laundering and tax‑evasion during the same period.
In the final years of Epstein’s life before his death in 2019, his communications with de Rothschild remained active, covering multi‑million‑dollar consultancy deals via his company Southern Trust.
The triple relationship among Epstein, Barak and de Rothschild lasted at least until 2017 and operated as a secret cross‑continental finance network supporting Israeli cyber‑projects a relationship revealed for the first time at this depth and clarity, raising serious questions about the involvement of international financial and political elites in these sensitive projects.
A Mossad client
During the “Turning Point USA” summit in Tampa, Florida on 11 July 2025, American right‑wing commentator Tucker Carlson dropped a shocking revelation when he alluded to the possibility that Epstein had run a blackmail network for Israel.
Carlson publicly questioned the link between Epstein and the Mossad, citing old allegations of collaboration, saying: “Everyone in Washington believes that.” He added provocatively: “How did a man who was a math teacher at Dalton School in the late 1970s, without a university degree, end up owning multiple planes, a private island and the largest residence in Manhattan? Where did all that money come from?”
However, the speculation around Epstein’s relationship with the Mossad is not limited to Carlson’s remarks. Former Mossad officer Ari Ben‑Menashe claimed in his 2020 book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ran a blackmail network for Mossad using under‑age girls to target influential figures.
Likewise, former U.S. National Security Agency counter‑espionage official John Schindler wrote on his blog in January 2024 that Epstein appeared to be part of a mysterious Israeli influence operation called “MEGA”, adding that the scale of his violations over decades required a massive support network or even a “small army” to keep it secret.
The mathematician and former CEO of Thiel Capital, Eric Weinstein, confirmed in a podcast Diary of a CEO that he did not view Epstein merely as a traditional financier, describing him as “a weird person” who seemed “the product of one or more intelligence agencies” and adding that Epstein did not appear to understand currencies despite his enormous wealth underscoring the mysterious role he played in the world of global influence.
Publishing the documents… Does Israel have a role?
Although raising the Epstein case at this moment is seen by some observers as transcending the traditional Democrat–Republican struggle and more linked to power struggles within U.S. security‑intelligence corridors, some voices suggest that external actors may play a role in the publication or withholding of the documents.
It is said that the “deep state” seeks to reset the political scene and prevent any deviation from the conventional path, which gives the case dimensions beyond mere domestic politics.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stirred the debate in a CNN interview when she hinted at the possibility of Israeli pressure on Trump to withhold Epstein files, being asked directly: “Are you saying Israel is pressing President Trump to hide Epstein’s files?” She replied cautiously: “I’m not specifically accusing Israel; I’m only asking the question … it could be any foreign government.” (Jacobin)
Greene’s hints intersect with widespread hypotheses in media and political circles that intelligence agencies possibly Israeli or from other states may have interests or indirect roles in managing or leaking some of these documents, given Epstein’s long and complex relationship with influential Israeli figures over years.
The questions remain wide open, as Epstein built a secret network with global political and intelligence elites, making every interpretation or speculation subject to change with the emergence of new information or leaks, thus giving the case an international and security dimension that matches its political importance.
In light of the above…
It becomes clear that Israel was an integral part of the influence network woven by Jeffrey Epstein over decades, exploiting foreign personalities and complex financial and political relationships to expand its influence both domestically and externally.
The use of a previously disgraced sexual‑exploitation financier as an intermediary between senior Israeli officials and elites of U.S. politics and finance -and in Africa- raises serious questions about how deeply Israeli intelligence agencies penetrated foreign decision‑making circles.
And whether the values and principles that the Israeli state proclaims were simply a façade for expanding its strategic and economic interests through dirty, covert practices.
With the disclosure of these documents, the darker side of trans‑border influence networks that exploited human and political vulnerabilities to advance intelligence and commercial objectives becomes increasingly exposed.
It becomes evident that the official image presented by the Israeli entity as a principled and civil‑society‑oriented actor starkly contradicts the reality emerging from the documents.
In the end the case remains open to further investigations and leaks, threatening to redefine U.S.–Israeli relations and revealing how secret networks can become tools of pressure and control at the highest levels, away from the public eye and the law.
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