Ex-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rebuked Tucker Carlson over his claim that the alleged sex pest Jeffrey Epstein led a blackmail campaign on behalf of the Mossad.
Bennett, 53, characterized the conspiratorial remarks from Carlson—and others on the right—as a “vicious wave of slander and lies” against Israel. He added that he is “100 percent” sure his country’s spy agency never worked with Epstein.
“As a former Israeli Prime Minister, with the Mossad having reported directly to me, I say to you with 100% certainty: The accusation that Jeffrey Epstein somehow worked for Israel or the Mossad running a blackmail ring is categorically and totally false,” he said on X.
Bennett called out Carlson by name, writing, “This accusation is a lie being peddled by prominent online personalities such as Tucker Carlson pretending they know things they don’t. They just make things up, say it with confidence, and these lies stick, because it’s Israel.”
Carlson, a former Fox News host, has been a thorn in President Donald Trump’s side for the last month. He has raged over the perceived lack of transparency regarding the so-called “Epstein files” and Trump’s decision to bomb Iran. He fired back at Bennett immediately.
“Instead of issuing threats on social media, why don’t you sit down for a rational interview on Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to the Israeli government?” Carlson said, quoting Bennett’s post. “We’ll reach out to your office this morning.”
You “just won’t take it anymore”? Instead of issuing threats on social media, why don’t you sit down for a rational interview on Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to the Israeli government? We’ll reach out to your office this morning. https://t.co/klcuAI8Dpl
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 14, 2025
Bennett, who was Israel’s prime minister between June 2021 and June 2022, has not publicly responded to Carlson’s interview request.
Carlson, 56, claimed Epstein was linked to Israeli intelligence while speaking at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit on Friday.
“The real question was not, was Jeffrey Epstein a weirdo?” he said. “The real question was, ‘Why was he doing this, on whose behalf, and where was the money coming from?’ I think the real answer is Jeffrey Epstein was working on behalf of intel services, probably not American. That foreign government is Israel.”
Carlson, a D.C. native, alleged that “every single person” in Washington believes Epstein was tied to Israeli intelligence services in some way. He said that this belief has been suppressed, at least publicly, because criticizing Israel is “too naughty or forbidden.” His remarks were met with applause by the crowd.
“I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t think that,” he continued. “I don’t know any of them that hate Israel, but no one feels they can say that. Why? And I think the longer that we play along with it, the more subterranean and creepy and hateful the conversation actually becomes, so I think it’s better just to say it out loud, ‘Did this happen?’”
Trump, 79, has been trying to get the country—and particularly his MAGA base—off the Epstein story since news broke last week that an FBI and DOJ memo determined there was no Epstein “client list” that implicated powerful individuals. That memo, which was confirmed as authentic by the White House, contradicted Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claim from February that such a list was sitting on her desk.
MAGA outrage ensued, with some going as far as burning their “Make America Great Again” merch and denouncing their support for the president. Trump campaigned on declassifying details about Epstein’s case and continued to tease that he would do so upon taking office. Now, he is begging America to move away from the story.
In one of his more bizarre posts to Truth Social, Trump said Saturday: “What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
Epstein once said that Trump was his “closest friend,” and the duo, who both split their time between living in New York and Palm Beach, Florida, were photographed together at events on multiple occasions.
Epstein committed suicide in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking, during the latter half of Trump’s first term. Trump distanced himself from Epstein, but now even some of his longtime supporters are suggesting his lack of transparency on the Epstein case may mean he is covering something up.
The post Tucker Carlson Torched by Ex-Israeli PM Over Epstein-Mossad Theory appeared first on The Daily Beast.
