Emails which were hacked from the inbox of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak reveal discussions with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including correspondence about a trip to the latter’s private island. The emails were stolen last year by Handala, a hacking group suspected of having ties to Iranian intelligence agencies, and were provided to Straight Arrow News on Wednesday by the non-profit organisation DDoSecrets, which archives leaked data.
The data cache, first reported by Reason, contains over 100,000 emails sent and received by Barak between 2007 and 2016. Barak served as Israel’s defence minister from 2007 to 2013. He was prime minister from 1999 to 2001.
Many of the emails detail Epstein’s partnership with Barak in 2015, when the pair began investing in a security start-up known as Reporty Homeland Security. According to Reason’s reporting, Epstein used Barak ‘to seek out opportunities in the surveillance industry and build connections with powerful figures around the globe’.
These influential figures included Palantir founder Peter Thiel, the former director of Israeli signals intelligence, and two individuals described as being in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
Emails reviewed by SAN demonstrate the closeness of Barak’s relationship with Epstein, showing how informally they addressed each other. In January 2014, Barak mentioned efforts to prevent his security detail from accompanying him to Little Saint James, Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
‘I’m still trying to arrange that the security guys will NOT come with us to the island,’ he wrote. “Does this work for you?”
The emails do not mention whether any security officers or other guests accompanied Barak.
‘Thanks for the hospitality.’
In another email from December of that year, Barak appears to compliment Epstein’s island.
‘Hi Jeff,’ the email begins. ‘Thanks for the hospitality. Great, impressive island.”
In July 2019, Barak denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of the allegations against Epstein. At the same time, he announced that he had ended their business relationship following Epstein’s arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Barak had previously acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private island and his home in New York City. However, he stated that he “never took part in any parties or events involving women”.
Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell just one month later while awaiting trial. In 2008, he had pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting prostitution in a case involving the sexual exploitation of teenage girls.
A high-profile dinner
Another email reviewed by SAN from 2016 shows Epstein inviting Barak to a dinner with numerous high-profile figures, including the film director Woody Allen, who has been accused of child molestation by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow. Allen has denied the accusation, and no charges have ever been filed.
In the email to Barak, Epstein also mentioned an invitation to ‘Rothschild’, apparently referring to French banker and Edmond de Rothschild Group CEO Ariane de Rothschild, according to other emails.
It remains unclear whether Barak attended the dinner.
Source: thefrank.com
