Israel’s Barak says he regrets knowing Epstein after documents detail their long friendship
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has apologized for his yearslong friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that included regular correspondence, multiple visits to the disgraced financier’s Manhattan apartment and one to his private island.
The former Israeli leader has not been implicated in Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and faces no accusations of wrongdoing. In an exclusive interview with Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday, he said he regretted having ever known Epstein and apologized to all those “who feel deeply uncomfortable.”
“I am responsible for all my actions and decisions, and there is definitely room to ask if there wasn’t room for more in-depth judgment on my part and a more thorough examination of what the details really are, what exactly happened there,” he said.
Barak is among several political, business and cultural elites found to have maintained long relationships with Epstein, even after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in Florida. Epstein died by suicide in detention in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal allegations of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of girls.
Barak, who has previously distanced himself from Epstein, gave the latest interview after millions of pages of documents were released by the U.S. Justice Department in connection with its investigations of Epstein.
Barak and his wife, Nili, have turned up frequently in the documents, showing they stayed in regular contact with Epstein for years, including after he cut a deal with prosecutors in 2008 that resulted in an 18-month prison sentence.
Barak has acknowledged visiting Epstein numerous times, flying on his private plane and staying at his New York apartment when he was out of public office. Barak said he and his wife and some security guards paid a three-hour visit to Epstein’s home in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but saw only Epstein and some maintenance workers there.
Barak said he never observed or took part in any inappropriate behavior. He said he was aware of the earlier Epstein case but assumed he had paid his debt to society.
“Only in 2019, when a reinvestigation of the whole story begins, does the breadth and depth of the man’s heinous crimes become apparent and I cut off relations with him, and everyone cuts off relations with him,” Barak said.
A Netanyahu rival
Barak served as prime minister from 1999 to 2001, when Israel and the Palestinians held high-level peace talks before the process collapsed and a Palestinian uprising broke out. He later served as defense minister.
His ties to Epstein came to light seven years ago after Barak announced a political comeback in an unsuccessful bid to topple Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
At the time, U.S. tax records showed Barak received some $2 million in grants for unspecified “research” the previous decade from the Wexner Foundation — a philanthropic organization that supports Jewish causes. At the time, Epstein was a trustee of the foundation.
Barak downplayed those ties when they surfaced, saying Epstein “didn’t support me or pay me.”
The new batch of released documents show regular correspondence among Barak, his wife and Epstein.
Some detail plans for a 2017 stay at Epstein’s New York residence, while others discuss mundane logistics for other visits, meetings and phone calls. In June 2019, Barak’s wife, Nili, emailed Epstein saying they delayed their flight to New York by roughly a week. In 2013, Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, emailed Epstein about dinner with Barak, his wife and several business people and celebrities, including Woody Allen.
In 2019 — about a week before Epstein was arrested — an exchange about Barak between Epstein and an unknown person shows Epstein saying he was ”dealing with Ehud in Israel. Making me crazy.”
The documents show that Epstein connected Barak with U.S. President Donald Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, who was seeking to become more involved in Israeli politics. Emails from Epstein to his staff and others in 2018 discussed setting up dinners or meetings between Barak and Bannon.
Bannon has not been implicated in any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
In Thursday’s interview, Barak said it’s likely more information will emerge from the documents in the weeks ahead, but he maintained that he had done nothing illegal or improper.
“I promise you that nothing will be discovered, because there is nothing,” he said.
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Associated Press reporter Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem contributed