Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has apologized for his yearslong friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that included regular correspondence and multiple visits to the disgraced financier’s Manhattan apartment, as well as visit 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. But in an exclusive interview with Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday, he said he regretted ever having 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.”
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.
Epstein died by suicide in detention in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal allegations filed in New York, of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of girls.
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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Barak felt Epstein paid price after prison term
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 behaviour. 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.
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 defence 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 US 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, named after Bath & Body Works founder Leslie Wexner, whose decades-long ties to Epstein drew deeper scrutiny after Epstein’s 2019 indictment.
Barak downplayed those ties when they surfaced, saying Epstein “didn’t support me or pay me.”
The recently released documents show that Epstein connected Barak with Steve Bannon. The former campaign chair and White House adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump has not been implicated in any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
DP World names new chair
Meanwhile, others are facing repercussions after being named in the Epstein documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Dubai has announced a new chairman for DP World, one of the world’s largest logistics companies. The announcement Friday by the government’s Dubai Media Office did not specifically name Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
However, it said that Essa Kazim was named DP World’s chair and Yuvraj Narayan was named group CEO. Those were positions held by bin Sulayem.
DP World did not respond to request for comment.
Some of the emails between the two men referenced or linked to porn, sexual massages and escorts, though the emails do not appear to implicate bin Sulayem in Epstein’s alleged crimes.
DP World is a logistics giant that runs the Jebel Ali port in Dubai and operates terminals in other ports around the world.
The announcement comes a day after financial groups in Canada — the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a provincial pension fund — as well as the United Kingdom had said they were pausing future ventures with DP World after newly released emails showed a yearslong friendship between bin Sulayem and Epstein.
U.S. House of Representatives members Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, a Republican, questioned why Sulayem, Wexer and four other men had their names redacted in the recent tranche of documents after they reviewed files Monday at the Justice Department. The names were later unredacted.
“@RepThomasMassie & I called on DOJ to stop protecting this man & [unredact] his name. They relented. Then I took to the House floor to name names. Today, he resigns. We will not rest until there is elite accountability for the Epstein class,” Khanna, a Democrat, posted on social media.
In the U.S., Kathy Ruemmler, the chief legal officer at storied investment bank Goldman Sachs, said Thursday she will resign effective June 30 after six years at the firm. She described Epstein as an “older brother” and downplayed his sex crimes in the unredacted emails.
The brother of deceased Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre is urging Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to answer American lawmakers’ questions about the late sex trafficker. Meanwhile King Charles says the Royal Family will co-operate with a police investigation if asked.
While Ruemmler has called Epstein a “monster” in recent statements, she had a much different relationship with Epstein before his 2019 arrest. She received several expensive gifts from him, including luxury handbags and a fur coat.
“So lovely and thoughtful! Thank you to Uncle Jeffrey!!!” Ruemmler, once White House counsel for president Barack Obama, wrote to Epstein in 2018.
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