Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was a business partner of American financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted in the past of soliciting a minor for prostitution and was arrested again this week on suspicion of running a sex trafficking network.
The 78-year-old former premier claims in a radio interview Thursday he met Epstein several times and added “I met many people over the years, including some involved in ‘problematic things,’ such as Harvey Weinstein. “I also met Netanyahu,” he quipped. “He didn’t support me or pay me.”
The connection with the Jewish billionaire has emerged just days after Barak announced his new “Israel Democracy” party, in a bid to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in September 17 elections.
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According to a report in Ha’aretz, the company that Barak established in 2015 was developing a service that enables the transmission of video and live audio to emergency centers. The stream accompanied by accurate data on the reporter’s whereabouts and an assessment of the reliability of the report.
Reports in Israeli media suggest Ehud Barak received over $2 million from a company belonging to Epstein, and in effect became a partner in the venture.
In response to Haaretz, Barak said, “I recognized the business opportunity and registered in Israel a partnership under my control. Several people that I know invested in the company in a deal that is equal to everyone. Since these are private investments, it is inappropriate and incorrect for me to disclose the details of the investors. ”
Epstein, 66, a former hedge fund manager, was arrested on Saturday at an airport near New York City after his private jet landed from France.
The prosecution accuses Epstein of seducing dozens of young girls, only 14, to his luxury homes in New York and Florida and paying them for sex.
In the past, it was reported that Epstein’s “black phone book” includes Barak’s name alongside President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Great Britain’s Prince Andrew.
The Likud party used this connection in its propaganda videos and Netanyahu wrote in continuation of the publication “to investigate immediately.”
Barak replied to Netanyahu on Twitter and added a picture that included the prime minister and Epstein: “There is nothing to investigate – I admit. I gave a second chance – to Jeffrey and to Bibi … To clarify the truth: In my case, all my actions are those of a private citizen, not a minister or a prime minister, all of which are legal, reported to all the authorities and paid for by them. And you?”
