The house of cards on 9 East 71st Street: Did Epstein meddle in Middle Eastern affairs?

I first came across the name Jeffrey Epstein on a conspiracy blog in 2013. I had accidentally fallen down a rabbit hole about Area-51, a top-secret military base in the United States, suspected by conspiracy theorists of holding UFO evidence. At that point, Epstein was already the subject of fringe online speculation. Between Snowden and Assange, the world of conspiracy theories had catalyzed a distrust of the media and the U.S. government.

The theory was simple enough for my adolescent mind to grasp: here was a billionaire who trafficked children of various ages to a privately owned island, Little St. James, for the entertainment of his powerful friends and associates. His plane, the Lolita Express (as it was dubbed), would transport the victims and Epstein’s friends. Speculation about who was involved often varied, but the two names most commonly featured and agreed upon were Bill Clinton and Bill Gates. According to flight logs gathered by internet hackers and posted online, both men were frequent flyers on the Express. As a lover of fantasy novels, the idea of such a world piqued my morbid curiosity, and I found myself unable to ignore it.

As United States envoys push Lebanon and Syria to normalize relations with Israel, in the midst of continuous ceasefire violations by Israel, many have asked why no power is stepping in to prevent Netanyahu from his unilateral decision-making stunts.

The debacle is the stuff of nightmares. The idea that rich and powerful men exploited their status to procure, solicit, and exploit young women for their sexual gratification is incomprehensible. But we know pedophilia exists. We also know that men with power use said power for self-gratification.

At the time, talking about Epstein’s sex-trafficking island made me look and sound ridiculous to my peers. Who would believe that amateur bloggers had uncovered the scoop of the century before the seemingly well-connected, amply-funded mainstream media? Why would a scandal of such magnitude appear on fringe, unknown websites rather than on the cover of The New York Times?

For the people of the Middle East, who are disproportionately affected by Western foreign policy, the Epstein scandal has already affected the credibility of U.S. President Donald Trump and cast doubt on his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the age of kings, syphilis was the sexually transmitted disease seen ravaging Europe’s monarchies and nobility. Now, the latest paraphilia among the world’s most well-connected has proven to be pedophilia. The Trump administration’s denial of the Epstein files' existence, the recent leak of 20,000 pages of newly released files, and the political maneuvering in Washington around the scandal have left the world’s elite compromised.

The political carousel of America’s far right

Tucker Carlson made headlines during a speech at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit on July 11 for accusing Epstein of working for the Mossad. Carlson claimed it was “extremely obvious” that Epstein had “direct connections to a foreign government,” while “no one [was] allowed to say that that foreign government is Israel.”

How does a guy go from being a math teacher at the Dalton school in the late 70s with no college degree, to having multiple airplanes, a private island, and the largest residential house in Manhattan? Where did all the money come from?

In an investigation by Drope Site News, Epstein was confirmed to be involved in Israeli operations in West Africa during Ehud Barak’s tenure as Israel’s Defense Minister, a position he held alongside his role as Prime Minister between 1999 and 2001, and between 2007 and 2013. In “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” Virginia Giuffre named Barak her rapist, claiming he beat and raped her, leaving her bloodied. This memoir was released after her suspicious death by suicide, after publicly stating she was not suicidal.

The negotiations centered around Israel’s involvement in West African security, with Epstein and Barak working with Israel’s intelligence sector in Cote d’Ivoire, according to the investigation. Epstein and Barak proposed mass surveillance—conducted by Israeli intelligence officials—of Ivorian phone and internet communications. The covert operations of Barak and Epstein in Africa have allowed President Alassane Ouattara to maintain his grip on power.

Between Marjorie Taylor Greene suggesting Israel is pressuring Trump not to release the Epstein files and Candace Owens claiming that Trump is being blackmailed, the role these hidden pages have come to play in the world of international politics is undeniable. The Epstein scandal has reduced people’s faith in corporate media, governments, and their actors. The rise of the alt-right and alternative media battling mounting cases of censorship and selective reporting by media conglomerates has led to an increased reliance on alternative platforms for unfiltered news. Speculation about the role of blackmail in the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel has become unavoidable. Meanwhile, the media is avoiding repeating the mounting evidence that Epstein was affiliated with Israeli intelligence.

The Trump administration’s denial of the Epstein files' existence, the recent leak of 20,000 pages of newly released files, and the political maneuvering in Washington around the scandal have left the world’s elite compromised.

On November 21, Netanyahu shockingly posted an article claiming Epstein was involved in the 2019 Israeli elections, when Barak “forged a left-wing alliance to end Netanyahu’s reign.” The article restates the trending theory that Epstein was involved with Israeli intelligence, an astonishing acknowledgement from the sitting Israeli Prime Minister. The article also claims Epstein had ultimately failed to meddle in Israeli politics and topple Netanyahu, due to his subsequent arrest, which took place shortly after the emails were released. Domestically and internationally, Netanyahu seems to be using the Epstein scandal for political leverage. In Israel, Barak’s association with Epstein has damaged his reputation and helped Netanyahu, his political rival, maintain power.

Trump has been requesting Israel pardon Netanyahu for his various corruption charges, sending a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog formalizing the Presidential plea. Trump’s circle of protection around Netanyahu, who is the de facto head of Mossad—with access to its classified files and operations—also expands to his crimes within Israel and Gaza. Spectators are left wondering whether it is friendship or leverage that binds these two.

The billionaire and the Prime Minister: Blair lies, people die

The question of who was behind the Epstein operation is crucial for people in the Middle East and North Africa. Netanyahu could use whatever information the Israeli authorities have collected to further the Israeli regional and international agenda. As United States envoys push Lebanon and Syria to normalize relations with Israel, in the midst of continuous ceasefire violations by Israel, many have asked why no power is stepping in to prevent Netanyahu from his unilateral decision-making stunts.

Tom Barrack, the United States ambassador to Turkey, has also been implicated in the files, after a series of emails were leaked earlier this month. His involvement in Lebanon is primarily centered around peace with Israel, insisting the Lebanese government must negotiate with Israel directly, issuing the coercive ultimatum: normalization or war. Barrack is also involved in Syrian affairs, including de-escalation efforts between Syria and Israel. The narrative between the United States-Lebanese diplomatic negotiations is now tainted by the involvement of a man who is implicated in a scandal directly associated with Israel.

The speculation between dirty politics and Israeli interests goes back to the Iraq War. In 2002, former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair met with Epstein at Downing Street to discuss “UK and United States politics,” according to a spokesperson for Blair. In March 2003, Tony Blair and George W. Bush invaded Iraq. Blair is also known for his close friendship with the Clintons, both associates of Epstein. Hillary, who was a senator in 2003, voted in support of the Iraq War, which was highly unpopular among U.K. and U.S. citizens.

In 2006, renowned political thinkers and analysts John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt argued that Israel and the Israeli lobby were critical factors in the decision to go to war in Iraq. “The ‘unstated threat,’” read an article published in 2010 by The New Statesman, “was the threat against Israel.” And as one retired Israeli agent put it, “Israeli intelligence was a full partner to the picture presented by American and British intelligence regarding Iraq’s non-conventional capabilities.”

In 2003, Blair’s government misled the public regarding Saddam Hussein’s pursuit of nuclear power, hiding their aim to secure regime change. It is now widely accepted that Blair’s government exaggerated intelligence to justify the Iraq War, which resulted in the death of 1 million people.

It is, therefore, alarming, albeit unsurprising, that one of the names proposed by the Trump administration to serve on the “Board of Peace” following the Gaza ceasefire is none other than Blair.

As the public waits for the full release of Epstein’s files in their entirety, the question of how this prolific billionaire may have shaped the policies of Western governments towards the MENA region, prompting them to mislead their people and enter illegal wars in line with the Israeli agenda, should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

The house of cards on 9 East 71st Street

Whether or not Epstein’s operation was, in fact, the gathering of political blackmail—and not the hubris of an out-of-control party boy—is a possibility that is growing increasingly popular amongst the general public.

The files have shown how the world’s elite operate outside the normally accepted norms of global politics, and how their personal lives continue to permeate the political sphere. These documents show that this network crosses transnational borders and affects the global political balance. Meanwhile, Epstein’s clients are occupied with what increasingly resembles a Shakespearean play, all of them pointing fingers at one another, but it’s clear the strings are being pulled from above.

Between Marjorie Taylor Greene suggesting Israel is pressuring Trump not to release the Epstein files and Candace Owens claiming that Trump is being blackmailed, the role these hidden pages have come to play in the world of international politics is undeniable.

I felt, admittedly, vindicated when the mainstream media eventually broke the story in 2018. My subsequent feeling was disappointment—because we were never going to get the complete story. I often wonder how Epstein’s victims felt after being silenced, ridiculed, and suppressed by him and his network for years. For these victims, vindication and self-righteousness are worth little. Youth and innocence, once stolen, can never be returned. What justice have the victims received? With Epstein dead and Ghislaine receiving special treatment at a high-society prison, the more damning question is—will their victims ever receive justice?