New Congressional Testimony Reveals Jeffrey Epstein Helped Open Netanyahu’s Door to JPMorgan
New congressional testimony has added a significant piece to the public record surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s extraordinary access to international political and financial power. Former JPMorgan executive Jes Staley testified that Epstein personally helped him secure a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Staley had difficulty getting onto Netanyahu’s calendar through conventional channels.
The admission came during Staley’s July 24, 2026 transcribed interview with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which subsequently released the approximately 200 page transcript as part of its continuing investigation into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Under questioning, Staley said he met Netanyahu once inside the prime minister’s office in Israel. When congressional counsel asked directly whether Epstein facilitated that meeting, Staley answered, “Yes, he did.”
The revelation does not establish that Netanyahu participated in Epstein’s crimes, knew about them or had any involvement in Epstein’s sexual abuse network. Staley also testified that Epstein was not present during his meeting with Netanyahu. What the testimony establishes is narrower but significant: Epstein apparently possessed enough access to Israel’s political establishment that a senior JPMorgan executive turned to him when conventional channels were failing, and according to Staley’s testimony, Epstein delivered.
That testimony becomes more consequential when placed alongside Epstein’s extensively documented relationship with another Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, and allegations contained in a 2020 FBI confidential human source report concerning possible connections between Epstein and Israeli intelligence. Those intelligence allegations remain allegations supplied by a source, not an FBI finding that Epstein worked for Mossad, while Netanyahu has publicly rejected claims that Epstein operated on behalf of Israeli intelligence. The emerging record therefore requires a careful separation between what documents and testimony establish, what witnesses and sources have alleged, and what remains speculation.
Staley Told Congress Epstein Got Him Access to Netanyahu
The most important new evidence comes directly from Staley’s congressional testimony. Investigators asked whether he had ever met Netanyahu, and Staley said he had met the Israeli leader once inside the prime minister’s office. When congressional counsel asked whether Epstein facilitated the meeting, Staley confirmed that he did and explained that he had asked Epstein for assistance after experiencing difficulty getting onto Netanyahu’s schedule.
Staley testified that he was traveling to Israel on JPMorgan business and wanted a meeting with Netanyahu but was having trouble securing one. He mentioned the problem to Epstein, who had relationships with influential people in Israel, and subsequently obtained the meeting. When investigators asked what relationship Epstein had with Netanyahu that enabled him to provide that access, Staley said he believed Epstein knew Netanyahu but declined to characterize the relationship more specifically. He also pointed to Epstein’s relationship with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak as part of the reason he believed Epstein could help.
That distinction is important. Staley did not testify that Netanyahu and Epstein were close friends, business partners or intelligence associates. He testified that Epstein apparently knew Netanyahu, or had sufficient access to people around him, to help a senior JPMorgan executive secure a meeting when ordinary efforts had been unsuccessful. For a man whose influence depended heavily on his ability to connect extraordinarily powerful people, that is a meaningful addition to the documented Epstein record.
JPMorgan Emails Corroborate Epstein’s Role in Opening the Door
The testimony fits with internal JPMorgan communications surrounding the March 2011 meeting. According to previously reported emails, a JPMorgan employee informed Staley and another senior executive that, “Against all odds, we have been granted a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu.” Staley forwarded the message to Epstein with a brief expression of thanks, and Epstein responded, “Surprise surprise.”
Those communications were already suggestive, but Staley’s testimony substantially clarifies why Epstein was included in the exchange. He told congressional investigators directly that he asked Epstein to help get him onto Netanyahu’s calendar and that Epstein facilitated the meeting.
Staley testified that he was representing JPMorgan and recalled discussing the Middle East and geopolitics with Netanyahu, while saying there was “nothing specific” about the conversation that he could remember. There is no evidence in the testimony that anything improper occurred during the meeting itself. Senior executives from major international banks routinely meet heads of government while conducting business overseas.
The remarkable part of the episode is the intermediary. Jeffrey Epstein was not a diplomat, elected official or JPMorgan employee. By March 2011, he was already a convicted sex offender following his controversial Florida prosecution and 2008 guilty plea. Yet when one of the world’s most powerful bankers wanted access to the prime minister of Israel, Epstein was apparently someone he believed could open the door. According to Staley’s testimony, he could.
Epstein’s Israeli Political Network Extended Beyond Netanyahu
Netanyahu was not the only major Israeli political figure within Epstein’s network. Staley’s congressional testimony further confirms Epstein’s relationship with former Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose connections to Epstein are substantially more extensive in the public record. Staley told congressional investigators that he encountered Barak at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and later met him in Israel. He described Epstein’s New York residence as a place where prominent figures from politics, finance, technology and academia crossed paths, including Barak and other internationally recognizable figures.
The relationship between Barak and Epstein is considerably better documented than anything currently established between Epstein and Netanyahu. Records previously reported from Epstein’s calendars showed numerous scheduled meetings involving Barak years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction. Barak has also acknowledged flying on Epstein’s private aircraft and meeting him numerous times while denying knowledge of Epstein’s sexual misconduct. Additional correspondence released over the years has demonstrated that the relationship extended beyond occasional social encounters. Epstein and Barak discussed travel, meetings, investments and potential business ventures, with Epstein at various times appearing to function as an adviser, intermediary, connector and sounding board for the former Israeli leader.
Association with Epstein does not itself establish participation in his crimes. Epstein deliberately surrounded himself with influential people across politics, banking, academia, science, technology and international affairs, and appearing in his correspondence or visiting one of his properties is not evidence of criminal conduct. What the records illuminate instead is the architecture of Epstein’s influence and the extraordinary number of powerful people who apparently found his connections useful.
Epstein Was Not Simply Collecting Famous Friends
One of the most persistent questions surrounding Epstein has been what exactly he provided to the extraordinarily powerful people who continued associating with him. Staley’s testimony offers part of the answer: access, introductions and connections. Staley described Epstein introducing him to influential business figures, facilitating relationships and serving as a sounding board on financial matters. He also acknowledged sharing confidential JPMorgan information with Epstein, including sensitive information concerning the bank and its business. Reuters reported that Staley maintained he believed he was authorized to share the information and that he sometimes sought Epstein’s advice.
That makes Epstein’s role more consequential than the familiar image of a wealthy socialite collecting celebrity acquaintances. Powerful people were using him as well. They sought introductions, solicited advice, attended meetings at his homes and relied upon his network. The Netanyahu meeting now provides another documented example of Epstein functioning as a connector between elite financial and political circles.
Then There Is the Intelligence Question
This is where responsible reporting requires a strict separation between documentary evidence and allegation. Among the Epstein materials made public is a 2020 FBI FD 1023 confidential human source report containing allegations concerning Epstein, attorney Alan Dershowitz, Ehud Barak and Israeli intelligence. According to the report, the confidential source recalled allegations that Dershowitz had told then U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta that Epstein belonged to both American and allied intelligence services. The source also alleged that Epstein had trained as a spy under Barak and ultimately characterized Epstein as a co opted Mossad agent.
The existence of the document is significant because it establishes that allegations concerning Epstein and intelligence services were formally reported to the FBI. It does not establish that those allegations were true. An FD 1023 records information supplied by a confidential human source and is not equivalent to an FBI investigative finding or government confirmation of the information contained within it.
That distinction is essential. The publicly documented evidence surrounding Epstein’s political connections is already extraordinary without transforming an informant’s allegations into a proven intelligence conclusion. The appropriate question is not whether the FBI document proves Epstein worked for Mossad. It does not. The question is why allegations involving intelligence services repeatedly became attached to a man whose documented network reached deeply into governments, banking, technology and international politics.
Netanyahu Has Rejected Claims Epstein Worked for Mossad
Netanyahu has publicly rejected claims that Epstein operated as an Israeli intelligence asset and has instead highlighted Epstein’s extensive relationship with his longtime political rival Ehud Barak. That argument deserves inclusion in any serious examination of the subject because Barak’s relationship with Epstein was extensive, continued years after Epstein became a registered sex offender and included documented personal and business interactions.
Nothing in Staley’s newly released testimony establishes that Netanyahu participated in Epstein’s criminal activity, knew about Epstein’s abuse or was involved in an intelligence operation connected to him. The evidence establishes something different and considerably more precise: Epstein had access to Netanyahu’s political orbit, and according to Staley, that access was effective enough to help a senior JPMorgan executive secure a meeting with Israel’s sitting prime minister.
That is an important distinction because the Epstein story has repeatedly been distorted in both directions. Unsupported theories sometimes turn associations into proof of criminal conspiracies, while excessive caution can obscure genuinely remarkable evidence about the level of access Epstein possessed. Neither approach accurately describes the documentary record.
The Netanyahu Revelation Shows How Epstein’s Power Worked
For years, the Epstein story has generated the same unanswered question: why did so many extraordinarily powerful people continue dealing with him, particularly after his 2008 conviction made his criminal history impossible to ignore? Money alone has never completely explained it. The Staley testimony provides another glimpse of what Epstein could offer. He connected financiers with billionaires, political leaders and major international figures. His Manhattan townhouse functioned as a meeting point for people occupying the highest levels of business, government, technology and academia. His relationships crossed national borders and extended deep into international political networks.
The Netanyahu episode provides an unusually clear example. In 2011, Staley wanted to meet Israel’s sitting prime minister while traveling on JPMorgan business. He was having difficulty getting onto Netanyahu’s calendar, so he asked Jeffrey Epstein for help. The meeting subsequently happened, and Staley has now testified before Congress that Epstein facilitated it. That does not prove a Netanyahu conspiracy, a Mossad operation or participation by Netanyahu in Epstein’s crimes, and responsible journalism should not manufacture conclusions unsupported by the evidence. At the same time, the significance of what has actually been established should not be minimized.
Jeffrey Epstein was a convicted sex offender who somehow retained extraordinary access to the highest levels of international power. A former senior JPMorgan executive has now testified to Congress that Epstein helped him secure access to the sitting prime minister of Israel after ordinary channels had apparently failed. The expanding documentary record leaves increasingly little doubt that Epstein’s value to many people around him went far beyond wealth or social status. He could connect powerful people to other powerful people, move between political and financial circles and apparently open doors that were difficult for even senior executives at one of the world’s largest banks to open themselves.
The unresolved questions are how Epstein acquired that extraordinary access, what he did with it, who benefited from it and why so many powerful institutions and individuals continued finding him useful long after they had ample reason to stay away.
Sources
U.S. House Oversight Committee — Full Jes Staley Congressional Transcript
U.S. Department of Justice — Epstein Library
Reuters — Staley Says He Shared Confidential JPMorgan Information With Epstein
Ynet — Reporting on Epstein, Netanyahu and the 2011 JPMorgan Meeting
Ynet — Reporting on Ehud Barak’s Meetings With Jeffrey Epstein
The Times of Israel — Ehud Barak’s Meetings and Flights With Jeffrey Epstein
Ynet — Released Correspondence Between Ehud Barak and Jeffrey Epstein
FBI FD 1023 — 2020 Confidential Human Source Report Containing Epstein Intelligence Allegations
