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For years, there have been\u00a0whispers<\/a>\u00a0that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had\u00a0ties<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0key officials<\/a>\u00a0in the US and\u00a0foreign<\/a>\u00a0governments<\/a>, was\u00a0involved<\/a>\u00a0with Israel\u2019s intelligence agency,\u00a0Mossad<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the Epstein\/Mossad ties were often labeled by US corporate media as \u201cunfounded\u201d (New York Times<\/b>,\u00a08\/24\/25<\/a>), dismissed as a \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d (New York Times<\/b>,\u00a07\/16\/25<\/a>), or said to have been \u201clargely manufactured by paranoiacs and attention seekers and credulous believers\u201d (New York Times<\/b>,\u00a09\/9\/25<\/a>). Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cEpstein\u2019s conduct, both the criminal and the merely despicable, had nothing whatsoever to do with the Mossad or the State of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that far-right antisemites like\u00a0Candace Owens<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Tucker Carlson<\/a>\u00a0have promoted a conspiratorial version of the Epstein\/Israel connection as part of their bigoted, attention-seeking narratives. But recent investigations by\u00a0Drop Site News<\/b>\u2014the nonprofit investigative outlet founded in July 2024\u2014into a major hack targeting Israel revealed that Epstein did play a significant role in brokering multiple deals for Israeli intelligence. Despite the hack\u2019s significant revelations, US corporate media coverage remains scant.<\/p>\n \n Drop Site<\/strong>\u00a0(10\/30\/25<\/a>): \u201cEpstein was an invaluable resource for Israel\u2019s former prime minister [Ehud Barak]\u2026even advising him on how to engage with the Mossad.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since 2024, a hacking group called \u201cHandala\u201d with reported ties to the Iranian government (Committee to Protect Journalists,\u00a07\/9\/25<\/a>) has carried out a series of cyberattacks targeting Israeli government officials and facilities (Press TV<\/b>,\u00a012\/1\/24<\/a>;\u00a0CyberDaily<\/b>,\u00a06\/16\/25<\/a>).<\/p>\n \n Aspects of the Handala hack were published on the website of nonprofit whistleblower\u00a0Distributed Denial of Secrets<\/a>\u00a0(DDoS),\u00a0including<\/a>\u00a0hundreds of thousands of emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, one of Epstein\u2019s closest connections.<\/p>\n Since the hacked information was released, numerous independent media outlets\u2014including\u00a0Reason<\/b>\u00a0(8\/27\/25<\/a>),\u00a0All-Source Intelligence<\/b>\u00a0(9\/17\/25<\/a>,\u00a09\/29\/25<\/a>,\u00a010\/13\/25)<\/a>, Grayzone<\/b>\u00a0(10\/6\/25<\/a>,\u00a010\/9\/25<\/a>,\u00a010\/13\/25<\/a>), the\u00a0(b)(7)(D)<\/b>\u00a0(10\/16\/25<\/a>,\u00a010\/21\/25<\/a>) and\u00a0DeClassified UK<\/b>\u00a0(9\/1\/25<\/a>,\u00a011\/3\/25<\/a>)\u2014have published investigations on its contents. Among the independent media outlets,\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>\u2019s coverage stands out for its in-depth research and broad scope.<\/p>\n Drop Site<\/b>\u2019s investigations into the Handala hack have included six major stories since late September, four of which have centered around \u201cEpstein\u2019s work on behalf of Israeli military interests, particularly as it relates to his role in the development of Israel\u2019s cyber warfare industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Drop Site<\/b>\u00a0reporters Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim (9\/28\/25<\/a>) detailed how Epstein wielded his influence to expand Israel\u2019s cyber warfare industry into Mongolia.\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>\u00a0wrote:<\/p>\n Jeffrey Epstein\u2026exploited his network of political and financial elites to help Barak, and ultimately the Israeli government itself, to increase the penetration of Israel\u2019s spy-tech firms into foreign countries.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In their next piece,\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>\u00a0revealed (10\/30\/25<\/a>) that Epstein created an Israel\/Russia backchannel to attempt to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Hussain and Grim reported that Epstein also worked with Barak and Russian elites to pressure the Obama administration into approving strikes on Iran, demonstrating his \u201cknack for steering the superpowers toward Israel\u2019s interests by leveraging a social network that intersected the Israeli, American and Russian intelligence communities.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same piece, Hussain and Grim quoted Epstein asking Barak to \u201cwait until they could speak privately before Barak notified intelligence leaders of a deal\u201d with Russian-Israeli oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, and to \u201cnot go to number 1 too quickly.\u201d Number 1 has long been a\u00a0nickname<\/a>\u00a0for the head of the Mossad,\u00a0DropSite<\/b>\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n Another article (11\/7\/25<\/a>) recounted that Epstein sold surveillance technology to C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire: \u201cEpstein helped Barak deliver a proposal for mass surveillance of Ivorian phone and internet communications, crafted by former Israeli intelligence officials.\u201d<\/p>\n Most recently, Grim and Hussain (11\/11\/25<\/a>) reported that an Israeli spy regularly stayed at Epstein\u2019s Manhattan apartment. The spy, Yoni Koren, \u201cmade his intelligence career working in\u00a0covert operations<\/a>\u00a0alongside the Mossad.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0New York Post<\/strong>\u00a0(8\/31\/25<\/a>) had no problem using Handala info to document Epstein\u2019s ties to a disgraced British royal.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hacked information must be handled\u00a0ethically<\/a>\u00a0by journalists\u2014including by verifying the files, considering public interest, concealing identities when necessary, and noting its origins. This is what\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>\u00a0has done. And its reporting has significant public interest, revealing the ways in which Epstein served Israel\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n Yet in a search of ProQuest\u2019s US Newsstream collection for \u201cHandala,\u201d as well as a supplementary\u00a0Google<\/b>\u00a0search, the only US corporate media outlet found to have covered the Handala hack is the\u00a0New York Post<\/b>\u00a0(8\/31\/25<\/a>). Its single 700-word story, drawing from\u00a0Reason<\/b>\u00a0(8\/27\/25<\/a>) and the\u00a0Times<\/b>\u00a0of London (8\/30\/25<\/a>), focused on how Prince Andrew stayed in contact with Epstein for five years longer than previously stated\u2014sidestepping the revelations from\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>\u00a0about Epstein\u2019s ties to Mossad.<\/p>\n Hussain, who had not seen the\u00a0New York Post<\/b>\u00a0story, said US corporate media is \u201cdeliberately ignoring\u201d the story:<\/p>\n It\u2019s such a goldmine of stories. They\u2019re not going through it, they don\u2019t want to talk about it. I think it\u2019s very difficult for them to conceive what these emails refer to because they\u2019ve spent so much time talking about it as a conspiracy theory. And now contravening evidence is emerging, or well-substantiated evidence, showing that it\u2019s really not a conspiracy theory.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Indeed, recent mentions of Epstein\u2019s ties to Israeli government officials have continued to dismiss them as conspiracy theories, ignoring the hack and\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>\u2018s work. For instance, an\u00a0LA Times<\/b>\u00a0op-ed (10\/10\/25<\/a>) on antisemitism in the GOP listed Tucker Carlson\u2019s suggestion that \u201cEpstein was a Mossad agent\u201d (and accusing Israel of \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza) as evidence of \u201cappalling behavior,\u201d alongside things like \u201centertaining Hitler\/Nazi apologia\u201d and suggesting that \u201cJews had something to do with [Charlie] Kirk\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0New Yorker<\/strong>\u00a0(10\/10\/25<\/a>) suggested that drawing a connection between \u201cthe war in Gaza\u201d and \u201cfealty to Israel\u201d is part of a \u201cdark alternative view of the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The\u00a0New Yorker<\/b>\u2019s Jay Caspian Kang (10\/10\/25<\/a>) asserted in his weekly column:<\/p>\n On Planet Epstein, everything that happens\u2014the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the war in Gaza, the suppression of speech by the Trump Administration\u2014proves the country is run by blackmail, pedophilia and fealty to Israel.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While it is of course absurd to blame \u201ceverything\u201d on Epstein or Israel\u2014and right-wing conspiracy theories that incorporate antisemitism are very real and dangerous\u2014is it really unreasonable to blame \u201cthe war in Gaza\u201d on too much \u201cfealty to Israel\u201d? After all, from October 7, 2023 to September 2025, the US sent $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel, according to Brown University\u2019s\u00a0Costs of War<\/a>\u00a0project\u2014more than a quarter<\/a>\u00a0of Israel\u2019s total post\u2013October 7 military expenditures. Epstein\u2019s evident connections to Mossad do raise the question of whether there is more to that \u201cfealty\u201d than the $100 million the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC spent on both parties during the 2024 election cycle (Common Dreams<\/b>,\u00a08\/28\/24<\/a>).<\/p>\n By using the \u201cconspiracy theory\u201d frame, Kang not only overlooked the recently revealed files from\u00a0Drop Site<\/b>, but also failed to convey the full scope of Epstein\u2019s influence, leaving the actions of associates and key government officials unscrutinized.<\/p>\n All Source Intelligence<\/strong>\u00a0(9\/17\/25<\/a>) published a story based on the Handala leak documenting a Canadian billionaire couple\u2019s support for an Israeli program to sabotage critics online.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Other aspects of the Handala hack have also been well-covered by independent media, including reports of billionaires funding an Israeli cyber campaign against anti-apartheid activists (All-Source Intelligence<\/b>,\u00a09\/17\/25<\/a>). Other stories describe Iran striking a secret Israeli military site near a Tel Aviv tower (All-Source Intelligence<\/b>,\u00a010\/13\/25<\/a>;\u00a0Grayzone<\/b>,\u00a010\/13\/25<\/a>), and Larry Ellison\u2019s son, David Ellison, meeting with a top Israeli general to plan spying on Americans (Grayzone,<\/b>\u00a010\/6\/25<\/a>). The\u00a0Grayzone\u00a0<\/b>(10\/9\/25<\/a>) also reported that a former US ambassador secretly worked with a top Israeli diplomat to help Israel access several prestigious UN committees.<\/p>\n In Israeli media,\u00a0Haaretz<\/b>\u00a0(3\/9\/25<\/a>) reported that thousands of Israeli gun owners were exposed in an Iranian hack-and-leak operation. The paper (7\/9\/25<\/a>) also revealed the leak of a database containing thousands of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s belonging to Israelis who served in classified and sensitive positions within the Israel Defense Forces and other military and security agencies.<\/p>\n \u200bThese details, like those about Epstein, have also been met with silence in US corporate media.<\/p>\n There has been wall-to-wall US corporate media\u00a0coverage<\/a>\u00a0of the Department of Justice\u2019s Epstein files and the battle over its release. So why has the hack largely been ignored by US corporate media? One possible reason is the hack\u2019s likely origin. It has been reportedly attributed to Banished Kitten, a cyber unit within Iran\u2019s Ministry of Intelligence (Committee to Protect Journalists,\u00a07\/9\/25<\/a>). Hacks purportedly emanating from Iran are rarely covered in US corporate media\u2014and when they are, the origin of the hack, not its content, becomes the focus.<\/p>\n Corporate media have long shown a double standard on when it is and is not permissible to publish information obtained through hacking (FAIR.org<\/strong>,\u00a011\/24\/09<\/a>,\u00a09\/30\/24<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Look no further than media coverage of the 271-page official dossier of then\u2013Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, which revealed that the Trump campaign believed Vance \u201cembraced noninterventionism,\u201d among other purported vulnerabilities (Ken Klippenstein<\/b>,\u00a09\/26\/24<\/a>). The US government alleged the Vance dossier was leaked through Iranian hacking (FAIR.org<\/b>,\u00a09\/30\/24<\/a>). While the\u00a0New York Times<\/b>,\u00a0Washington Post<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Politico<\/b>\u00a0possessed the Vance dossier for weeks, they declined to publish it (Popular Information<\/b>,\u00a09\/9\/24<\/a>).<\/p>\n The contents of the Vance dossier were eventually revealed by independent reporter Ken Klippenstein, as well-documented by FAIR contributor Ari Paul (9\/30\/24<\/a>). Paul noted that while Klippenstein\u2019s reporting pushed the story into the legacy media, \u201cmost of the reporting about this dossier has been on the intrigue revolving around Iranian hacking rather than the content itself\u201d (Daily Beast<\/b>,\u00a08\/10\/24<\/a>;\u00a0Politico<\/b>,\u00a08\/10\/24<\/a>;\u00a0Forbes<\/b>,\u00a08\/11\/24<\/a>).<\/p>\n\u2018Knack for steering the superpowers\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Drop](\"https:\/\/eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Drop-Site-Epstein-350x397.png\")
<\/p>\nFailing to cover the Handala hack<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"NY](\"https:\/\/eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NY-Post-Epstein-Andrew-350x292.png\")
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<\/p>\nOther Handala revelations<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"All](\"https:\/\/eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/All-Source-Billionaires-350x347.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"FAIR:](\"https:\/\/eadn-wc04-3257648.nxedge.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FAIR-Hacks-350x241.png\")
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