Former prime minister Ehud Barak told Jeffrey Epstein that Israel could “easily absorb another million” immigrants from Russian-speaking countries, according to an undated recording of a conversation released as part of the latest wave of Epstein files documents that were released.
In the audio, Barak said many would apply and adapt under “social pressure,” adding that authorities could be more “selective” than in earlier aliyah waves.
“They took whatever came just to save people. Now we can be selective,” he said.
Barak stated that Israel could “control the quality” of new arrivals more effectively than in past decades and argued that necessity can create “flexibility.”
“I am glad when I was the chief rabbi of Moscow, we stopped this crazy initiative,” former chief rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt wrote on X/Twitter following the conversation’s release.
“Didn’t know then that it was discussed with Epstein.”
Barak joked about Russian-Israeli names, praised impact of post-Soviet immigration on Israel
Barak recalled telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel needed “not just one more million,” praising the transformative impact of the 1990s post-Soviet immigration. That wave brought roughly a million Russian-speaking immigrants who reshaped Israel’s economy and culture.
He contended that Israel should be “more tolerant,” referencing biblical figures to support a broader definition of belonging. He also joked about hybrid Russian-Israeli names in the military, suggesting integration would proceed quickly.
Barak’s ties with Epstein have been covered extensively. The two met repeatedly in 2015-2016, years after Epstein’s first conviction, and he was photographed entering Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
Barak did not respond to The Jerusalem Post’s request for comment.
Epstein Files Transparency Act
The DOJ stated that its release of the second wave of files – about 3.5 million, bringing the total to over 6 million – was in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, despite being released over a month after the deadline.
Following the release, US Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanch stated that the Department of Justice had removed images that showed “death, physical abuse, or injury” from the files.
Among those named in the files are US President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Mira Nair, mother of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.