Israel's Barak says he regrets knowing Epstein after documents detail their long friendship [View all]

Source: NBC News/AP

Feb. 13, 2026, 4:35 PM EST


TEL AVIV, Israel — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has apologized for his yearslong friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that included regular correspondence, multiple visits to the disgraced financier’s Manhattan apartment and one to his private island. The former Israeli leader has not been implicated in Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls and faces no accusations of wrongdoing.

In an exclusive interview with Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday, he said he regretted having ever known Epstein and apologized to all those “who feel deeply uncomfortable.” “I am responsible for all my actions and decisions, and there is definitely room to ask if there wasn’t room for more in-depth judgment on my part and a more thorough examination of what the details really are, what exactly happened there,” he said.

Barak appears in several documents

Barak is among several political, business and cultural elites found to have maintained long relationships with Epstein, even after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in Florida. Epstein died by suicide in detention in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal allegations of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of girls.

Barak, who has previously distanced himself from Epstein, gave the latest interview after millions of pages of documents were released by the U.S. Justice Department in connection with its investigations of Epstein.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/israel/israels-barak-says-regrets-knowing-epstein-documents-detail-long-frien-rcna259004