How Jeffrey Epstein Helped Israel Establish A Police State In This Country

When a West African nation teetered on the edge of chaos, two unlikely figures moved behind the scenes to shape its future. One was Jeffrey Epstein, infamous financier and convicted sex offender. The other, Ehud Barak, former Israeli prime minister and defence minister. Together, they turned Cote d'Ivoire's political unrest into a business opportunity using secret emails, private meetings, and behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

The story began in late 2010, when a disputed presidential election in Cote d'Ivoire triggered violence. The UN certified Alassane Ouattara as the winner, but incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede. A French and UN intervention removed Gbagbo in 2011. In June 2012, Ouattara foiled a coup plot and five days later met Barak and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss counterterrorism cooperation. An Israeli delegation soon visited Côte d'Ivoire to advise on security and rebuilding the presidential army.

In 2013, at the end of his tenure as Israel's Defence Minister and after his supposed “retirement,” Barak sold Israeli security services to governments in trouble, with Epstein quietly helping. In emails seen by Drop Site News, Epstein wrote to Barak: “with civil unrest exploding [...] and the desperation of those in power, isn't this perfect for you.” Barak replied: “You're right [in] a way. But not simple to transform it into a cash flow.”

In Cote d'Ivoire, this involved brokering deals between the Israeli state and the West African nation. Leaked emails and US House Oversight Committee files cited by Drop Site News show Epstein's involvement in Israeli intelligence operations in Africa in 2012, while Barak was still Defence Minister.

Epstein helped present plans to monitor Ivorian phone and internet communications, created by former Israeli intelligence officials. These private arrangements later became an official security agreement between Israel and Cote d'Ivoire in 2014.

Behind the scenes, Epstein coordinated key meetings. On June 18, 2012, the same day Barak met Ouattara, Ouattara's son met Epstein in New York. Three months later, Epstein met Ouattara's niece Nina Keita and then Barak privately at the Regency Hotel. Epstein later flew to Africa, planning stops in Cote d'Ivoire, Angola, and Senegal.

Barak has claimed his dealings with Epstein were private, but documents suggest Epstein acted as a fixer. After leaving office in March 2013, Barak continued negotiating the deal. On March 19, he received an email from his brother-in-law Doron Cohen with materials from MF Group outlining plans for a surveillance and video monitoring centre in Abidjan. Communications were kept secret using cryptic references.

Negotiations were briefly disrupted by a UN report on Israeli-labelled ammunition, and the embargo was extended. Barak then called Israeli security figures including Amos Malka and Michael “Micky” Federmann, and on May 27, Sidi Tiemoko Toure, Chief of Staff to Ouattara.

Using a “non-security” pretext of building hospitals, Barak arrived in Abidjan on August 1, 2013, meeting top officials and President Ouattara.

On September 16, 2013, Barak received a 13-page proposal from Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash detailing a SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) system for Cote d'Ivoire. Farkash wrote, “The document is based on experience that has been accumulated during Amnon's and my service in the unit… I believe this meets the ‘export‑of‑knowledge' test. I thought it appropriate to bring this to your attention.”

Barak coordinated further meetings via Epstein in New York.

By mid-2014, UN embargoes were lifted, and Israel's defence and internal security agreement with Cote d'Ivoire was signed.

Emails also found that Yoni Koren, a former Israeli intelligence officer and longtime aide to Ehud Barak, stayed at Epstein's Manhattan home multiple times between 2013 and 2015. A Mossad veteran, Koren continued acting as an informal intermediary between Barak and Israeli intelligence.