February 14, 2026 | 01:34 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has publicly expressed regret over his long-standing connection with convicted sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein, who was sentenced in 2008 for procuring minors for prostitution, died by suicide in jail in 2019.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released millions of documents detailing Epstein’s crimes and his ties to numerous high-profile figures worldwide.
In an interview with Channel 12, reported by Al Jazeera on Thursday, Barak reflected on his relationship with Epstein, which spanned 15 years. Barak, who led Israel from 1999 to 2001, said he regrets ever meeting Epstein.
Barak said he was introduced to Epstein in 2003 by former Israeli President Shimon Peres at a major event in Washington, where Peres reportedly described Epstein as a “good Jew”.
“I am responsible for all my actions and decisions. There is room to question whether I should have investigated more thoroughly. I regret not doing so,” Barak said.
Despite Epstein’s 2008 conviction, Barak maintained that he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal activities until a broader investigation in 2019 revealed their scope.
“I did not know the manner of his crimes until 2019, and you probably didn’t know it either,” he said. Israeli media reported that during the years he knew Epstein, Barak never saw any unreasonable occurrence, or any unreasonable behaviour.
Barak admitted to maintaining limited contact with Epstein after 2008, including staying at Epstein’s Manhattan home with his wife on several occasions between 2015 and 2019, as well as exchanging emails and meeting in person.
He also acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, Little Saint James, for a three-hour afternoon visit with his wife and three bodyguards, claiming he only saw Epstein and a few staff members during the trip.
He denied continuing any close business or social ties after Epstein’s conviction, noting that at the time, Epstein was widely perceived as having “paid his debt to society”. The former Israeli leader said his associates severed all connections with Epstein once the 2019 investigation revealed the full scale of his crimes.
The newly released DOJ documents revealed Barak’s connections to global elites through Epstein, while also noting Barak’s funding of Israeli organizations such as Friends of the IDF and the Jewish National Fund, as well as his links to Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad.
Barak was also questioned about an audio recording with Epstein in which he discussed Israel’s population policies, suggesting the country could absorb one million Russian-speaking immigrants to balance demographic trends.
In the same recording, he appeared to criticize Sephardi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa. Barak stated that Israel has improved its ability to “control the quality” of the population “much more effectively than our ancestors”.
“We can easily absorb another million. I used to tell [Russian President Vladimir] Putin always, what we need is just one more million,” he said.
The release of these documents has intensified scrutiny of Epstein’s ties to political and business leaders worldwide, including Barak, highlighting the complex web of relationships surrounding the disgraced financier.
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