{"id":139905,"date":"2026-02-20T12:29:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139905\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:29:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:29:54","slug":"the-israeli-government-installed-and-maintained-security-system-at-epstein-apartment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139905\/","title":{"rendered":"The Israeli Government Installed and Maintained Security System at Epstein Apartment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drop Site is a 100% reader-funded, independent news outlet. Without your support, we can\u2019t operate. Please consider making a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible donation today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>301 E. 66th St in Manhattan. Photo: Drop Site News<\/p>\n

The Israeli government installed security equipment and controlled access to a Manhattan apartment building managed by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a set of emails recently released by the Department of Justice. The equipment was installed starting in early 2016 at 301 E. 66th Street\u2014the residence where former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak frequently stayed for stretches at a time. <\/p>\n

The security operation at \u201cEhud\u2019s apartment\u201d was in place for at least two years, emails from the DOJ disclosure show, with officials from the Israeli permanent mission to the United Nations corresponding regularly with Epstein\u2019s staff regarding security. The apartment was technically owned by a company connected to Epstein\u2019s brother, Mark Epstein, but was effectively controlled by Jeffrey Epstein. Units in the building were frequently loaned out to Epstein\u2019s contacts and used to house underage models<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rafi Shlomo, then-director of protective service at the Israeli mission to the United Nations in New York and head of Barak\u2019s security, corresponded with Epstein employees to arrange meetings to discuss security and coordinate installation of specialized surveillance equipment at the 66th Street residence. Shlomo personally controlled access to the apartment for guests and even conducted background checks on cleaners and Epstein\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n

Under Israeli law, former prime ministers and other high ranking officials typically receive security services after they leave office. According to the emails, Epstein personally approved the installation of the equipment and authorized meetings between his staff and Israeli security officials.<\/p>\n

Ehud Barak and the Israeli mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

At the time of Epstein\u2019s death in 2019, Barak downplayed his connection to the disgraced financier, stating that while he had met with Epstein several times, he \u201cdidn\u2019t support me or pay me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently suggested that Epstein\u2019s close ties to Barak, a longtime Labor Party official and rival of Netanyahu, undermine rather than strengthen the case for Epstein\u2019s ties to Israel. \u201cJeffrey Epstein\u2019s unusual close relationship with Ehud Barak doesn\u2019t suggest Epstein worked for Israel. It proves the opposite,\u201d Netanyahu said.<\/a> \u201cStuck on his election loss from over two decades ago, Barak has for years obsessively attempted to undermine Israeli democracy by working with the anti-Zionist radical left in failed attempts to overthrow the elected Israeli government.\u201d<\/p>\n

A January 2016 email exchange between Barak\u2019s wife, Nili Priell, and an Epstein employee\u2014whose name is partially redacted but appears from other communications to be his longtime assistant Lesley Groff\u2014discussed installing alarms and surveillance equipment at the residence, including six \u201csensors sticked to the windows,\u201d and the ability to remotely control access to the premises. Priell informed<\/a> Epstein\u2019s staff that, \u201cThey can neutralize the system from far, before you need somebody to enter the appartment. the only thing to do is call Rafi from the consulate and let him know who and when is entering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The correspondence also indicated that the work done by the Israeli government was significant enough that it required Epstein to personally approve it. \u201cJeffrey says he does not mind holes in the walls and this is all just fine!\u201d Groff wrote to Barak and Priell.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Correspondence between Nili Priell Barak regarding security at the apartment, January 15, 2016. <\/p>\n

The mission was in regular touch with Epstein\u2019s representatives over multiple visits by Barak and his wife throughout 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n

In a January 2017 email to Shlomo\u2014with the subject line \u201cJeffrey Epstein RE Ehud\u2019s apartment\u201d\u2014an Epstein assistant provided Israeli officials with a list of employees who would need access to the apartment, adding<\/a>, \u201cI understand from you already have a copy of her ID from awhile ago…she is the maid and has been going in and out of the apartment for a long time now!\u201d A few weeks later, they wrote<\/a> to Epstein himself that, \u201cRafi, the head of Ehud\u201ds security, is asking if I could meet him at 4pm on Tues. 14th at his office (800 2nd Ave and 42nd) re Ehud\u2019s apartment.\u201d Epstein approved the meeting.<\/p>\n

The correspondence continued throughout that year\u2014in August an assistant for Epstein reached out again to Shlomo to inform him of yet another stay by Barak and his wife at the Epstein residence. By November 2017, Shlomo had been replaced by another Israeli official who managed security and surveillance for Barak.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Correspondence between Epstein and an unnamed person regarding security for \u201cEhud\u2019s apartment,\u201d February 6, 2017.<\/p>\n

Barak\u2019s longtime aide Yoni Koren, who died in 2023, was another frequent guest<\/a> at Epstein\u2019s 66th Street apartment. Koren stayed at the apartment on multiple occasions\u2014including in 2013, while he was still actively serving<\/a> as \u201cbureau chief\u201d for the Israeli Ministry of Defense, according to calendars released by the House Oversight Committee investigation into Epstein and emails released by Distributed Denial of Secrets. Email correspondence from Barak\u2019s inbox also showed Koren exchanging information with Epstein for a wire transfer, as previously reported<\/a> by Drop Site.<\/p>\n

New emails released by the Department of Justice showed that Koren continued to stay at Epstein\u2019s apartment while receiving medical treatment in New York up until the second arrest and death of the financier in 2019.<\/p>\n

Leave a comment<\/a><\/p>\n

Share<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drop Site is a 100% reader-funded, independent news outlet. Without your support, we can\u2019t operate. Please consider making…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-139905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}