JD Vance Leans Into Epstein and Israeli Intelligence Claims
US Vice President JD Vance has stepped squarely into one of the right’s most radioactive conspiracy theories, publicly leaning into claims that Jeffrey Epstein had ties to the “highest levels” of Israeli intelligence.
The remarks came during a sprawling, nearly three-hour appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where Rogan raised a narrative that has long circulated on the fringes of conservative media: that Epstein’s money, his reach, and his influence campaigns at elite American universities were backed by Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service.
“Most people think he was Mossad,” Rogan said of Epstein.
Vance didn’t flinch.
“Yeah, Mossad or CIA, or some other deep state, whether in America or Israel or another country,” the vice president replied, before going further. “He clearly had connections to the upper — the highest — levels of American intelligence. He clearly had connections to the highest levels of Israeli intelligence.”
Those lines pushed a theory once confined to message boards and late-night monologues into the heart of the US government, from a man a heartbeat from the presidency.
Embracing a theory, conceding no proof
Vance acknowledged on the podcast that there is no hard evidence tying Epstein directly to any intelligence agency.
“I’ve asked, were there like, were there documents connecting Jeffrey Epstein directly to our intelligence agencies or anybody else’s, and the answer is no,” he said. “But if that existed, it wouldn’t exist in 2026.”
The US government has released millions of files related to Epstein. None have produced conclusive proof that he worked as an asset or agent for Mossad or any other intelligence service. Vance conceded the absence of documentary evidence even as he amplified the broader suspicion.
The comments landed with a thud in Washington and in pro-Israel circles, where Epstein-related speculation is often seen as a gateway to darker, antisemitic tropes.
Backlash from within the GOP
Some Republicans, already uneasy with Vance’s posture on Israel and antisemitism, saw the episode as a breaking point.
Former Representative Peter T. King, a New York Republican and staunch Israel supporter, accused Vance of sending a signal to the party’s conspiratorial fringe.
He called the remarks a “dog whistle” to a wing of the GOP that he said “is antisemitic, is anti-Israel, is conspiratorial and is unhinged.”
King underscored the stakes.
“It’s not like you’re a junior congressman,” he said in an interview. “You’re the vice president of the United States. Unless you know what you’re talking about, unless you have absolute facts to back it up, before you undermine an ally — before you undermine your own intelligence agencies — you better know what you’re talking about.”
Vance’s office did not retreat. Asked for comment, it released a statement attributed to an unnamed White House official insisting that everything the vice president had said was true and suggesting that to dispute it was “in bad faith, stupidity, or both.” Aides declined to clarify or expand on Vance’s claims.
The Israeli prime minister’s office, which oversees Mossad, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously rejected the idea that Epstein worked for Israel.
Conservative fissures on Israel and conspiracy politics
The reaction on the American right exposed a growing split over Israel, antisemitism, and the role of conspiracy theories inside mainstream conservatism.
Some influential conservatives had already been pressing Vance to sharpen his denunciations of antisemitism and to show more emphatic backing for Israel. His appearance with Rogan only deepened those concerns.
Ben Shapiro, the conservative commentator who is Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel, said in a newsletter that Vance’s performance on the podcast left him “concerned.”
On his own show, Shapiro went further, calling Vance’s commentary “unworthy of the office” of vice president and warning that it cut against the movement’s core beliefs.
“Conservatives, generally, are not in favor of baseless conspiracy theorizing,” Shapiro said, “because that undermines the idea that you have capacity in the world to act.”
Tablet, an online publication focused on Jewish news and culture, published a blistering column by journalist Lee Smith under the headline “JD Vance’s Big Crashout.” The piece accused the vice president of having “attacked Jews and spread baseless rumors, for which he admits to having zero evidence, about some kind of dark plot involving Jeffrey Epstein.”
The criticism underscored a tension inside today’s GOP: a party still home to traditional pro-Israel hawks and rule-of-law conservatives, but increasingly animated by figures who thrive on suspicion of institutions, foreign and domestic.
Epstein, Israel, and the “deep state” narrative
Epstein, a convicted sex offender who moved in elite political and financial circles around the world, did have a long-running relationship with one of Israel’s most prominent politicians.
He maintained a yearslong friendship and business relationship with Ehud Barak, the former Israeli prime minister from the center-left. Barak has said that Shimon Peres, another former Israeli leader, first introduced him to Epstein in 2002.
Barak attended lunches and dinners at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. He received roughly $2.3 million in payments from a foundation linked to Epstein. Epstein also reportedly invested $1 million in a limited partnership Barak established in 2015.
Barak has repeatedly denied any involvement in or knowledge of sexual abuse and has publicly expressed remorse over the association. “I now deeply regret having any association with him,” he has said.
For Vance, those links feed into a broader story about power and secrecy.
“Epstein seemed to be connected to the elements of the Israeli deep state that were left of center,” he told Rogan. “I’ve always found that fascinating.”
That framing — “deep state,” “highest levels” of intelligence — taps into the same vocabulary that has fueled years of conservative anger at US agencies like the FBI and CIA. Now, Vance has extended that suspicion to Israel’s security establishment, too.
The question is no longer whether fringe theories will seep into the mainstream of American politics. With the vice president himself giving them oxygen, the question is how far they will shape the party’s view of its allies, its institutions, and its own grip on reality.
