The British newspaper The Times published a report examining the relationship between convicted human trafficking offender Jeffrey Epstein and Israeli intelligence, specifically the Mossad.
The files include correspondence showing that the prominent Indian American writer and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra invited Epstein to join him in Tel Aviv in messages exchanged in 2017.
According to one of the messages revealed among millions of Epstein related files, Chopra wrote: “Come to Israel with us. Relax and enjoy being with interesting people. If you want, use a fake name. Bring your girls. It would be fun to have you with us. Love.”
The newspaper noted that Epstein appeared determined not to commit. He replied: “Another place. I do not like Israel. At all.”
It added that the reason for Epstein’s refusal of the invitation in March 2017 remains one of the mysteries contained in the files released by the US Department of Justice. These documents, it said, paint a contradictory and often confusing picture of his relationship with Israel, particularly with its former prime minister Ehud Barak.
The report pointed out that claims suggesting Epstein may have worked on behalf of a foreign intelligence service have gained traction in the United States, driven in part by right wing commentator Tucker Carlson and others in the media who have promoted such allegations.
The files also include claims from a confidential source for the Federal Bureau of Investigation stating that, contrary to his professed dislike of Israel, Epstein was in fact working for its intelligence service, the Mossad.
An FBI report from its Los Angeles office, written in October 2020, said that a source had become “convinced that Epstein was a recruited agent for the Mossad”, according to the newspaper.
The report claimed that the Wall Street financier had been “trained as a spy” for the Mossad, alleging that Epstein had connections to American and allied intelligence operations through his long time personal lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor whose circle included “many students from wealthy families”.
It added that Jared Kushner, the son in law of President Trump, and his brother Josh, a financier, were “both his students”. Dershowitz dismissed these allegations.
He said of Epstein: “No intelligence service could really trust him. This is not something he would have hidden from his lawyer.”
Over the weekend, the Israeli occupation’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that Epstein’s friendship with Barak was evidence that he was not a spy.
Writing on the X platform, Netanyahu said: “The close and unusual relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Ehud Barak does not indicate that Epstein worked for Israel. It proves the opposite.”
In 2018, Epstein asked Barak in an email to “clarify that I do not work for the Mossad. :)”.
The previous year, Epstein also asked Barak whether anyone had requested his “help in obtaining former Mossad agents to carry out dirty investigations”.
According to the files, Epstein arranged and contributed to an investment of 1.5 million dollars in an Israeli startup called Carbyne, previously known as Reporty Homeland Security.
Barak warned that “the Israeli trick of using Cyprus to avoid taxes is foolish, outdated and dangerous” in reference to their investment.
Another entrepreneur, Nicole Junkermann, suggested in correspondence with Epstein and Barak: “Cyprus raises suspicions, so I suggest Luxembourg.”
Epstein also sent himself emails listing several Israeli startups and inventions, including a conceptual bracelet that transforms into a touch screen.
Lynette Nusbacher, a former intelligence officer in the British Army, told The Times: “There is a huge mystery, widely discussed, about the source of his money.”
She added: “Is it possible that some of his funds came from government sources so that he could operate as an intelligence asset? But there is no evidence that he was anything other than the awful person he was convicted of being.”
In 2003, Epstein applied for a second passport for his partner Ghislaine Maxwell in order to “avoid conflicts of visa stamps” when travelling.
He wrote that “Ms Maxwell’s responsibilities require her to travel extensively around the world. She is currently scheduled to travel on 16 March 2003 to Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia”.
Nusbacher, a senior British national security official and a lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, explained the potential recruitment structures of Israeli intelligence and Epstein’s possible involvement.
She said: “Every intelligence service has people who work for it and are paid salaries and pensions by the service, we call them officers. Then there are people who are influenced by officers.”
The newspaper also referred to other visits that were not formally documented. An email dated 20 May 2012 asked his secretary, Leslie Groff: “Find me flights from Paris to Tel Aviv, then from Tel Aviv to New York or from Tel Aviv to Yalta, Crimea.”
On 21 May, Epstein added: “Book 24 to Tel Aviv and first class to New York on the 27th.”
Epstein was registered on a high end property auction website that sent him bidding options for some of the most exclusive homes in Israel.
The newspaper noted that even if Epstein no longer wished to travel to Israel by 2017, he did not express disdain for Israeli women. He asked Chopra to find him “a nice Israeli blonde… mind over matter”. Chopra responded with a warning that Israeli women were “fighters, aggressive and very exciting”.
Last week, Chopra said: “I want to be clear. I was never involved, nor did I participate in any criminal or exploitative behaviour. Any communication I had was limited and unrelated to abusive activity.”
He added: “I unequivocally condemn abuse and exploitation in all its forms.”
The Times pointed out that Epstein’s deep and long standing relationship with Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence for her role in Epstein’s child sex trafficking network, has only fuelled conspiracy theories surrounding his links to Israel.
The newspaper added that Maxwell’s father, the disgraced media tycoon Robert Maxwell, was widely suspected of having ties to Israeli intelligence and was known for injecting millions of dollars into the Israeli economy, pledging to invest “at least a quarter of a billion dollars” to then prime minister Yitzhak Shamir.
Robert Maxwell was found floating near the Canary Islands in 1991 after falling from his yacht, Lady Ghislaine. His body was transported to Israel and buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, a cemetery reserved for senior servants of Israel.
There were indications in Epstein’s emails suggesting he believed Maxwell had been assassinated by the Mossad. On 15 March 2018, an email from Epstein to a redacted recipient carried the subject line: “He has passed away.”
In the message, Epstein speculated about Maxwell’s fate, claiming that Maxwell had threatened Israeli intelligence after working, allegedly, as an unofficial agent spying on the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union.
The newspaper explained that the echo of this message revived a theory put forward by Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon, authors of the book Assassination of Robert Maxwell: Israel’s Superspy, who claimed that Maxwell had been pushed by the Mossad.
The authors alleged that Maxwell became involved in operations for the service but threatened to expose them unless officials agreed to pay 600 million dollars in interest he was owed on more than 3 billion dollars in debts.
Many experts contacted by The Times for comment said they had not encountered information proving links between Maxwell and the Mossad, let alone connecting Epstein to Israel’s highest intelligence body.
The newspaper noted that one Israeli writer with connections to the secret service, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of association with the case, said you never know whom the Mossad employs, adding that “anyone could be a spy”.
