Epstein linked to Israeli ‘deep state’, US intel, says Vance: What we know

EXPLAINERIn a podcast interview, Vance also acknowledges the Trump administration ‘screwed up’ on communications around the Epstein files.Printed copies of the Jeffrey Epstein files in Miami, Florida, on February 10, 2026 [Cristobal Herrara-Ulashkevich/EPA]Published On 16 Jul 2026United States Vice President JD Vance says Jeffrey Epstein “seemed to be connected” to elements of the “Israeli deep state” as well as the “highest levels of American intelligence”.In a wide-ranging interview by podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday, Vance also acknowledged that the Trump administration “screwed up” on communications around the Epstein files.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Vance says Epstein had connections to US, Israeli intelligencelist 2 of 4Ex-US Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies in Epstein files probelist 3 of 4US Justice Department refuses New Mexico’s request for Epstein fileslist 4 of 4Bill Gates testifies in closed-door US House meeting over Epstein tiesend of listEpstein was known as a financier and a socialite before he was convicted of several sex offences in the US.Known for his wide web of connections to the world’s elite, he was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.He pleaded guilty in a court in the state of Florida and was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008, but critics call the relatively minor conviction a “sweetheart deal”. His victims have alleged that he operated a sprawling sex trafficking network used by elites.Apart from the Epstein case, Vance also covered US foreign policy, the war on Iran, and US-Israel relations in his interview, which ran for nearly three hours and was viewed more than a million times on YouTube in less than 24 hours.Here’s what we know about the interview:What did Vance say about Epstein?Nearly an hour and 47 minutes into the interview, host Rogan asks Vance: “Well, most people think he [Epstein] was Mossad.”Vance responds: “Yeah, Mossad or CIA or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or another country. He clearly had connections to the upper levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.”The US vice president then claims that Epstein “seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of centre”.“It wasn’t like he was super connected to the right of centre of Israeli politics,” he said, adding that the disgraced sex offender had friends on both the left and the right in the US.“In America he had friends across the political spectrum in a way he didn’t necessarily have in Israel,” Vance said.Vance, however, also said there are no documents linking Epstein directly to US intelligence agencies or a foreign agency. He then went on to say “if that [such a document] existed, it wouldn’t exist in 2026”.Is there evidence linking Epstein to Israel?The US Department of Justice released 3.5 million files related to Epstein in January 2026, known as the “Epstein files”. None of the files explicitly reveal Epstein was an intelligence asset.But a lot of information was nevertheless revealed.An FBI memo from 2020 said one of its sources believed that the late sex offender “was a co-opted Mossad agent” who had been “trained as a spy”.The files also show that Epstein had extensive email correspondence with senior Israeli politicians, including former Defence Minister Ehud Barak, and Mossad veteran Yoni Koren, who was a regular visitor at Epstein’s New York residence.The emails suggest a close relationship, with Epstein allegedly paying for Koren’s cancer treatment in 2012.Epstein also funded Israeli organisations through his foundation, including a $25,000 donation to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (Israeli army), and $15,000 to the Jewish National Fund.The accusations that Epstein worked for Israel have been so persistent that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to social media to address the topic.“Jeffrey Epstein’s unusually close relationship with Ehud Barak doesn’t suggest Epstein worked for Israel. It proves the opposite,” Netanyahu wrote in February.Who is Pam Bondi and what did Vance say about her?During the interview, Vance also said that he does not believe anything malicious was happening at the Justice Department under former US Attorney General Pam Bondi.Despite the mandate of the “Epstein Files Transparency Act” for the Justice Department to release all documents in November, Bondi and her department still held back files related to Epstein.She also infamously stated that an alleged “client list” of Epstein’s was “sitting on my desk right now” – something that turned out to be untrue. She was fired in April amid the chaos surrounding the Epstein files.“I know Pam. I like Pam. I don’t think there was anything malicious going on,” Vance told Rogan. “I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment. I think she overstated what we had and what we didn’t have.”As a result, Vance said, Bondi was “roasted” publicly for it and led people to “mistrust” the administration’s transparency efforts on the Epstein files.“We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files. Like, we just did,” Vance said. “But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.”