The Lie:

Israel pressured President Trump to block the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files out of fear that they would implicate the Israeli government.

The Truth:

President Trump has repeatedly supported releasing the Epstein files. His prior hesitation centered on staying focused on his agenda and protecting innocent parties from reputational harm—not on pressure from Israel or any foreign government.

Background:

• On November 15, 2025, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) posted on X asking “who and what country is putting so much pressure” on Trump to stop him from releasing all Epstein-related files. She attached a graphic about AIPAC, suggesting that Israel was applying such pressure. (X)
• When asked about her post the next day on CNN, Greene claimed that “recent” information showed Epstein “working with Israel,” citing his ties to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and implying that Epstein’s dealings “led into their intel agencies.” Greene then asked, “Was Jeffrey Epstein working for Israel?” (CNN)

Truth Explained:

• Epstein’s ties to Israel were not secret, and Israel never denied them. In 2019, after Epstein’s arrest, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak publicly acknowledged that he had worked closely with Epstein. Emails revealed Epstein helped connect Barak to international contacts involved in business deals with the Israeli government. (The Times of Israel), (The Cradle)
  
• Epstein’s global network extended far beyond Israel. He maintained relationships with political and business elites in the U.S., U.K., France, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and more. Greene has not alleged that any of these governments pressured Trump about the Epstein files. (ABC News), (The Standard), (Mediapart), (New York Magazine), (BBC), (Daily Mail)
  
• Trump has publicly called for releasing the Epstein files. On November 16, 2025, Trump urged House Republicans to back a vote compelling the DOJ to release all Epstein-related documents. (Daily Wire)
  
• The Trump administration says it already released 50,000 Epstein pages. “No matter what we give, it’s never enough,” Trump said. (WWNY)
• Trump’s hesitation centered on innocent people—not foreign pressure. In July 2025, Bill O’Reilly stated that Trump told him he worried that releasing all the files would cause reputational harm to innocent individuals who interacted with Epstein through business networks, not through criminal activity. (NewsNation)
• Trump’s hesitation also included worrying that releasing all the files would distract from his policy agenda. He expressed concern that the political and media frenzy surrounding the documents could derail his priorities at a critical moment. (Daily Wire)
  
• Greene has not accused Democrats—Epstein’s closest political associates—of pressuring Trump. Trump noted on November 17, 2025: “All of his friends were Democrats… Reed Hoffman, Larry Summers, Bill Clinton… they went to his island all the time.” (Daily Wire)
  
• No evidence supports Greene’s claim that Epstein was running a blackmail ring for Israel. Epstein had professional and personal contacts in many countries, and none have been shown to have run a blackmail operation through him.
• On July 14, 2025, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett denied any connection with Epstein’s sex trafficking ring: “The accusation that Jeffrey Epstein somehow worked for Israel or the Mossad running a blackmail ring is categorically and totally false.” (X)
• U.S. intelligence expert Mike Benz separately concluded that Epstein acted as a private intermediary for multiple nations—including Israel—via informal personal networks, not as an intelligence operative running a coordinated blackmail campaign. (The Liz Wheeler Show)

Quotes:

“What I don’t want Epstein to do is detract from the great success of the Republican Party. It’s really a Democrat problem. The Democrats were Epstein’s friends, all of them.” — President Donald Trump

“You know, we’ve already given 50,000 pages. It’s just a Russia, Russia, Russia hoax as it pertains to the Republicans. Now, I believe that many of the people that we, some of the people that we mentioned are being looked at very seriously for their relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, but they were with him all the time. I wasn’t. I wasn’t at all, and we’ll see what happens.” — President Donald Trump

Takeaway:

There is no evidence that Israel pressured President Trump to block the Epstein files—and the claim also contradicts the observable facts. Trump has repeatedly called for full disclosure, released tens of thousands of pages during his administration, and urged Congress to compel the Justice Department to release the remaining documents. Meanwhile, political incentives in the U.S. run in the opposite direction: accusations involving Epstein have primarily threatened American, British, and European figures, not Israeli officials. Assertions that Israel sought to suppress the files therefore conflict both with the documented record of Trump’s actions and with the real-world distribution of political risk.