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.
