The Jeffrey Epstein list of associates released by a US judge has revived suspicions that the pedophile financier was an asset to the Mossad, Israel's intelligence service.
Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was identified in the bomb files on Wednesday evening. He served as Prime Minister from 1991 to 2001, after serving 35 years in the IDF, where he rose to become Chief of the General Staff.
Although he is only mentioned fleetingly in the new filings — one Epstein victim asked if she had ever given Barak a massage — his relationship with the financier has long been speculated.
Barak met Epstein some 36 times and was photographed entering his Manhattan townhouse in 2016 with a scarf around his face. Young women were seen coming in and out of the home that same day.
Former Israeli spies have stated that Epstein's international sex trafficking operation was a honeypot capture operation – obtaining valuable 'kompromat' material to blackmail political and business elites.
Prince Andrew, also named in the new list, was Epstein's “useful idiot” according to intelligence agents and described by the financier as his “Super Bowl trophy” because of his powerful connections.
During the pair's friendship, Andrew Ghislaine invited Maxwell and the financier to high society events in London, even allowing them to stay at the Queen's Balmoral estate. Andrew was Britain's international trade envoy at the time, helping the government promote business abroad.
Maxwell – who acted as Epstein's madam – is also intimately involved in the alleged honeytrap operation. Her father Robert Maxwell, a British newspaper magnate, is said to have been a Mossad agent and may have made the link between Epstein and the Jerusalem intelligence service.
Like Epstein's alleged hanging while awaiting trial, Maxwell's death on his yacht – The Lady Ghislaine – off the coast of Spain in 1991 has raised suspicions of murder.
The appearance of ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on the list of names linked to Jeffrey Epstein, released on Wednesday, has revived speculation that the pedophile could have been an Israeli spy.
Former spies and people in Epstein's inner circle have previously claimed that Epstein used his relationships with high-profile figures such as Prince Andrew (pictured) to sell information to the Mossad.
Ehud's name was released as part of a series of documents released in a defamation case against Epstein's madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in recruiting young girls for the sex trafficking operation.
“Prince Andrew was not blackmailed, he was used as a useful idiot,” former Mossad agent Ari Ben-Menashe told RT International. “It was used to bring in some celebrities.”
Ben Menashe worked for Israeli military intelligence from 1977 to 1987.
His accusations were supported by Epstein's former “mentor” Steven Hoffenberg, who claimed Epstein had called his relationship with the prince his “Super Bowl trophy.”
The late financier also met repeatedly with the current head of the CIA, William J. Burns, in 2014.
Prince Andrew has always denied all allegations against him and recently settled a case with Epstein victim Virginia Roberts, formerly Giuffre, who accused the royal family of rape in a civil case.
While the agreement did not include a formal admission of liability or an apology, it said he accepted that Roberts was a “victim of abuse” and that he regretted his association with Epstein.
Ben-Menashe also fueled speculation that Epstein may have been drawn into the spy game by Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell's father, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role as an accomplice in the pedophile's sex trafficking operation.
He claims he was Robert Maxwell's “handler” and that Epstein was placed with him long before their relationship would have officially begun.
A friend of the Maxwells, Laura Goldman, further stated that not only did she believe Robert Maxwell was a Mossad spy, but that Ghislaine was continuing his work.
The claims about Robert Maxwell's spying have been echoed by journalist Julie K Brown, who broke the Epstein case and who has pointed out the eerie similarities between the deaths of both Epstein and Maxwell.
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his prison cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019, following an apparent suicide while awaiting trial for his crimes. But rumors continue to circulate about what exactly happened.
Former Mossad agent Ari Ben-Menashe claimed Epstein was a spy for his employers and was drawn into the game by Ghislaine's father Robert Maxwell, who also worked for the government agency
A friend of the Maxwells supported claims that Robert Maxwell was a spy and even suggested that Ghislaine helped him with his work prior to his mysterious death. In the photo: Ghislaine left with father and mother Elisabeth Maxwell
Meanwhile, Maxwell is said to have drowned while aboard his luxury yacht The Lady Ghislaine in Spain's Canary Islands in 1991. At the time, the tycoon was facing major financial problems after raiding his company's pension funds in an attempt to cover his massive debts.
While police have ruled out foul play, theories of suicide or even a possible assassination by the Mossad still persist.
In their book, Robert Maxwell, Israel's Superspy: The Life and Murder of a Media Mogul authors Gordon Thomas and Martin Dillon suggest that a conflict between Maxwell's public interests and his role as a 'spy' led to his mysterious death.
They believe Maxwell gave himself Mossad money in an attempt to recoup his losses, with deadly consequences.
“It's not outside the realm of possibility that Epstein had connections to the (Israeli intelligence community),” Julie K. Brown told The Times of Israel during an interview about her book Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story.
“Robert Maxwell certainly had those kinds of connections, and Epstein had a close relationship with Robert Maxwell.”
At the time of his suicide, Epstein's fortune was approximately $580 million, although it has been difficult to determine the exact sources of his vast wealth, raising further suspicions that it may have come from shadowy sources.
But even outside the Mossad, Epstein's ties to domestic intelligence agencies have been questioned.
Mossad agent Ari Ben-Menashe claimed to have been Robert Maxwell's handler
Journalist Julie K Brown also stated that it was “not outside the realm of possibility that Epstein had connections” to Israeli intelligence services.
A report from the Wall Street Journal revealed encounters between the sex trafficker and current head of the CIA William J. Burns, even after his first conviction on prostitution charges in 2008.
The same report cited meetings with a former White House lawyer, a university president and a member of a global banking dynasty.
The documents showed they had multiple encounters with each of them, even after he had served time in prison and had been registered as a sex offender for the crime involving a teenage girl.
DailyMail.com previously cast doubt on Ehud's claims that he never met Epstein around women after receiving photos showing him entering the financier's New York mansion on the same day as a bevy of glamorous women.
The married politician hid his face with a camouflage neck gaiter as he entered the building, later blaming his bizarre attire for feeling cold.
The mansion pictured was given to Epstein by Victoria's Secret tycoon Leslie Wexner, also named in the new listing, who reportedly donated it to him for just $1, sparking further criticism of Epstein's wealth.
Epstein rose from relatively humble beginnings as a failed teacher to later become a billionaire, although it remains unclear exactly how.