In a series of explosive interviews and statements circulating widely on social media and alternative news outlets, Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli intelligence officer, has alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blackmailing U.S. President Donald Trump using compromising information from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
These claims, which have gained traction amid ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, suggest a deep web of influence involving Israeli intelligence, the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, and high-level U.S. political figures. As of September 16, 2025, these assertions remain unverified by official sources but have sparked intense debate about U.S.-Israel relations, intelligence operations, and the legacy of Epstein’s criminal activities.
Ben-Menashe, who claims to have worked for Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate from 1977 to 1987, positions himself as an insider with direct knowledge of espionage tactics, including “honeytrap” operations designed to gather blackmail material. His statements, first detailed in books and interviews dating back to 2019, have resurfaced in 2025 amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein’s connections to global power brokers.
Background on Ari Ben-Menashe
Ari Ben-Menashe is an Iranian-born Israeli-Canadian businessman and self-proclaimed former Mossad operative. Born in 1951, he has a controversial history in intelligence circles. In the late 1980s, Ben-Menashe was arrested in the U.S. on arms dealing charges but was acquitted after a jury accepted his claim of acting on behalf of the Israeli government.
Israel officially denied any ties to him, yet journalists like Seymour Hersh have cited him as a reliable source in books such as The Samson Option (1991), which discusses Israel’s nuclear program.
Ben-Menashe has authored books and given interviews alleging Israeli involvement in various international scandals, including the Iran-Contra affair. In recent years, he has focused on Epstein, claiming in the 2019 book Epstein: Dead Men Tell No Tales that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ran a Mossad-backed blackmail scheme targeting politicians and elites. Despite skepticism from mainstream outlets, which often label him a “notorious bullshitter,” his claims have been echoed in investigative reports by MintPress News and RT’s Going Underground.
The Epstein-Mossad Connection: A Long-Standing Allegation
At the heart of Ben-Menashe’s narrative is Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein’s network included billionaires, politicians, and royalty, and his private island and New York mansion were allegedly sites for underage exploitation. Ben-Menashe asserts that Epstein was recruited by Israeli intelligence through Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine’s father and a known Mossad asset who died under mysterious circumstances in 1991.
According to Ben-Menashe, Epstein’s operation was a “classic honeytrap”: providing underage girls to powerful individuals, recording encounters, and using the footage for leverage. “Epstein was intelligence. He was running a classic honeytrap operation. And yes, Mossad was involved,” Ben-Menashe stated in a 2019 MintPress interview. He claims this scheme blackmailed figures like former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and U.S. President Bill Clinton to derail peace efforts with Palestinians.
These allegations gained renewed attention in 2025 with the partial release of Epstein files, which some interpret as controlled leaks to pro-Israel influencers. Ben-Menashe told Going Underground in August 2025 that Epstein’s activities extended beyond sex to financial trails, questioning “where the money was coming from.”
Specific Claims Against Netanyahu and Trump
Ben-Menashe’s most recent statements, featured in viral videos from August and September 2025, directly implicate Netanyahu in blackmailing Trump. In an interview with Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi, aired on August 3, 2025, Ben-Menashe declared: “The American government is trapped by the Israelis. Jeffrey Epstein was one of their tools to trap them. They trapped a number of U.S. Presidents by using Jeffrey Epstein.”
He specifically accused Netanyahu of holding Epstein-related material over Trump, suggesting it prevents the U.S. from intervening in the Gaza conflict. “Trump can end the genocide in Gaza right now if he stops being scared of the Israelis,” Ben-Menashe said. “What are they going to say about him? How many girls did he abuse? How many billions of dollars did he take? Let them say whatever they want to say, he should stop the genocide.”
Ben-Menashe further alleged that Israel released a Wall Street Journal story about a Trump-Epstein birthday card as a “warning” to Trump. This echoes posts on X (formerly Twitter), where users shared clips claiming Israel has “copies of the Epstein blackmail videos” and that Trump declared the files a “hoax” to neutralize Netanyahu’s leverage.
Trump and Epstein were acquaintances in the 1990s and early 2000s, with Trump once calling Epstein a “terrific guy” in 2002. Their relationship soured by 2004, but Epstein’s documented ties to Trump properties fuel speculation.
Broader Implications for U.S.-Israel Relations
If true, these claims suggest Israeli intelligence has compromised multiple U.S. administrations, influencing policy on issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ben-Menashe argues that Epstein’s blackmail halted a two-state solution under Clinton and now binds Trump to Netanyahu’s agenda, including unwavering U.S. support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Critics, including former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, have dismissed Epstein-Mossad links as “categorically false.” U.S. media coverage has been sparse; a July 2025 Nexis search found only one article addressing the intelligence angle, which downplayed it. However, alternative sources like Infowars and DeepNewz Israel amplify Ben-Menashe’s narrative, tying it to Trump’s reluctance to criticize Israel’s Gaza operations.
Ben-Menashe warns that Israel’s alleged tactics, combined with the Gaza “genocide,” amount to “Harakiri” – ritual suicide – as global backlash grows.
Credibility and Counterarguments
Ben-Menashe’s credibility is hotly debated. Supporters point to his acquittal in the 1990 arms case and corroboration by figures like Hersh. Detractors, including Israeli officials and journalists like Steven Emerson, describe him as a low-level operative peddling sensationalism for profit. No concrete evidence – such as videos or documents – has surfaced to substantiate the blackmail claims.
Official U.S. investigations into Epstein, including a July 2025 DOJ/FBI memo, found no verified links to foreign intelligence or blackmail of presidents. Trump has denied Epstein ties beyond casual acquaintance, and Netanyahu’s office has not responded to these specific allegations.
A Romanian outlet, Aktual24, reported on September 16, 2025, that Ben-Menashe accused Netanyahu of using Epstein dossiers to control international leaders, but this remains anecdotal.
Ari Ben-Menashe’s allegations paint a damning picture of covert influence, with Netanyahu wielding Epstein’s dark legacy to manipulate U.S. policy. While lacking empirical proof, these claims highlight persistent questions about Epstein’s unexplained wealth, his intelligence ties, and the opaque dynamics of U.S.-Israel alliances.
As the 2025 Epstein file releases continue, calls for full transparency grow louder. Whether Ben-Menashe’s words are whistleblowing or disinformation, they underscore the need for rigorous investigation into how past scandals shape present power plays. Until substantiated evidence emerges, these remain explosive but unproven assertions in the realm of geopolitical intrigue
