Former Israeli PM Slams Epstein-Mossad Conspiracy
Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett forcefully denied claims that Jeffrey Epstein worked for Mossad, labeling the allegations as baseless antisemitic conspiracy theories.
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday forcefully denied claims that Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender, worked for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, labeling the allegations “categorically and totally false.”
The statement, posted on X, came in response to right-wing U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson, who suggested at a July 11 Turning Point USA summit in Tampa that Epstein operated a blackmail ring for Israel. The revived conspiracy, which lacks credible evidence, has stirred controversy amid heightened U.S. political tensions and renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s ties to prominent Israeli figures.
Bennett, who oversaw Mossad as prime minister from 2021 to 2022, dismissed the claims as baseless slander against Israel. “As a former Israeli Prime Minister, with the Mossad having reported directly to me, I say to you with 100% certainty: Epstein’s conduct, both the criminal and the merely despicable, had nothing whatsoever to do with the Mossad or the State of Israel,” he wrote.
He accused Carlson and others of fabricating lies, stating, “They just make things up, say it with confidence and these lies stick, because it’s Israel.”
The Epstein-Mossad theory, resurfacing since his 2019 death in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, was reignited by Carlson’s assertion that “every single person in Washington, DC, thinks” Epstein worked for Israel.
Carlson questioned the source of Epstein’s wealth and alleged a blackmail operation, claims echoed by some MAGA supporters on X but unsupported by verified evidence. The speculation has fueled debate within conservative circles, with figures like Steve Bannon criticizing the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein-related investigations, particularly after the Justice Department’s July 2025 statement that no “client list” exists.
Epstein’s documented connections to Israel center on former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who met Epstein approximately 30 times between 2013 and 2017, including visits to his Florida and New York residences and a 2014 flight on his private jet. In 2015, Epstein invested $1 million in Carbyne, a tech startup co-founded by Barak. Barak, who met Epstein through former President Shimon Peres in 2002, has denied any involvement in Epstein’s illicit activities.
The ties became a political flashpoint in Israel’s 2019 election, with Benjamin Netanyahu demanding a probe into Barak’s $2.3 million in payments from the Epstein-linked Wexner Foundation. Leaked emails from a U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase also suggest Epstein facilitated a 2011 meeting between Netanyahu and bank executives, though no evidence links Netanyahu to Epstein’s crimes.
In the 2020 book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales, former Israeli operative Ari Ben-Menashe claimed Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ran a “honey-trap” for Mossad, blackmailing elites with underage girls. Ben-Menashe’s credibility is disputed, as Israel denies his Mossad affiliation. Speculation about Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, Robert Maxwell, a British media mogul with alleged Mossad ties, and unconfirmed claims by former NSA counterspy John Schindler about an Israeli “MEGA” operation further feed the narrative, but no official documents substantiate these allegations. Bennett’s rebuttal highlighted concerns about antisemitism, framing the claims as exploiting Israel’s Jewish identity.