The Barak-Epstein Emails: Six Messages That Reveal How Israel's Former PM Stayed Connected to Epstein's World
Six emails from the Jeffrey Epstein archive — verified and viewable on jmail.world — document a relationship between former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Epstein's inner circle spanning from November 2011 to January 2015. The messages show Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff coordinating Barak's visits, Barak texting Groff directly, investor Nicole Junkermann connecting with Barak at a charity gala, and Barak himself orchestrating a business deal involving Epstein's lawyer and Junkermann.
- Lesley Groff, Epstein's assistant, coordinated Barak's visits to Epstein across multiple years — notifying household staff to prepare snacks and clear schedules. Barak texted Groff directly, bypassing Epstein entirely.
- Nicole Junkermann emailed Epstein immediately after meeting Barak at the 2013 amfAR gala in New York, with the subject line "Just met Ehud Barak at amfar" — establishing a documented link between all three.
- In December 2014, Barak personally emailed Junkermann, Epstein's lawyer Darren Indyke, and cc'd Epstein to arrange a teleconference about Reporty — a surveillance technology company where Barak would later serve as chairman.
- The earliest email (November 2011) shows Groff telling staff that "Ehud Barak and Nili will come see Jeffrey this Sunday" — demonstrating the relationship continued after Epstein's 2008 conviction and during Barak's tenure as Israel's Defense Minister.
The Emails: What the Archive Actually Shows
This investigation is built entirely on six emails retrieved from the jmail.world archive — all viewable by the public at the links in our source documents below. Every quote in this article is verbatim from the archive. We have not paraphrased, embellished, or inferred content beyond what the documents show.
The six emails span from November 2011 to January 2015, a period during which Barak served as Israel's Defense Minister (until March 2013) and then transitioned into the private sector. They involve three key figures besides Barak himself: Lesley Groff (Epstein's executive assistant), Nicole Junkermann (a German-British technology investor in Epstein's circle), and Darren Indyke (Epstein's personal lawyer).
Taken together, the emails document a pattern: Groff managed the logistics of Barak's visits to Epstein, Junkermann moved in the same social circles, and by late 2014, Barak was directly coordinating business involving all of them — with Epstein cc'd.
Lesley Groff: The Gatekeeper
Four of the six emails were sent by Lesley Groff, Epstein's longtime executive assistant. They paint a consistent picture: Groff was the person who arranged Barak's visits to Epstein, communicated directly with Barak via text message, and notified household staff to prepare for his arrival.
The earliest email dates to November 18, 2011 — nearly three years after Epstein's 2008 conviction and release from a Florida jail on sex offense charges. Groff wrote to household staff members Jojo and Rich:
From:Lesley GroffTo:Jojo, RichDate:November 18, 2011, 4:17 PMSubject:Ehud BarakEhud Barak and Nili will come see Jeffrey this Sunday around 10/10:30!!Source: jmail.world / DOJ Release 10
At the time this email was sent, Barak was serving as Israel's Minister of Defense. "Nili" refers to Nili Priell, Barak's second wife. The double exclamation marks and casual tone suggest this was a routine arrangement — staff needed to know a VIP was coming, not that an extraordinary event was being planned.
More than two years later, in January 2014, Groff emailed Epstein directly with a time-sensitive message about Barak:
From:Lesley GroffTo:Jeffrey EpsteinDate:January 16, 2014, 10:04 PMSubject:Ehud BarakPlease call Ehud Barak on his cell. He will be available for the next 30 minSource: jmail.world / DOJ Release 11
This email is notable for what it implies: Groff had direct knowledge of Barak's moment-to-moment availability. Someone — likely Barak or his staff — had communicated to Groff that there was a 30-minute window for Epstein to call. By January 2014, Barak had left the Defense Ministry nearly a year earlier and was operating in the private sector.
By October 2014, the communication had become even more direct. Groff relayed to Epstein that Barak had texted her personally:
From:Lesley GroffTo:Jeffrey EpsteinDate:October 29, 2014, 5:40 PMSubject:Ehud Barak!Ehud Barak texted me saying he believe they will be at the Ocean Club =otel in about 40 minutes!Source: jmail.world / DOJ Release 11
The "=otel" appears to be a character encoding error for "Hotel" — the Ocean Club is a luxury resort in the Bahamas, located on Paradise Island near Nassau. The email establishes that Barak was texting Groff directly rather than going through Epstein, and that she served as a relay point for coordinating his physical location. The exclamation point in the subject line — "Ehud Barak!" — suggests urgency or excitement about the imminent arrival.
The final Groff email, from January 2015, shows the same pattern continuing. This time she wrote to three household staff members — Lyn Fontanilla, Jojo Fontanilla, and Merwin Dela Cruz:
From:Lesley GroffTo:Lyn Fontanilla, Jojo Fontanilla, Merwin Dela CruzDate:January 13, 2015, 9:53 PMSubject:Ehud BarakEhud Barak will come see JE on Thursday at 10:30am
I would have snack available for sure ;)Source: jmail.world / DOJ Release 10
The winking emoji and instruction to have snacks ready reinforces that Barak's visits to "JE" (Jeffrey Epstein) were familiar, recurring events — routine enough that the staff knew the drill and Groff could be playful about the preparations.
The Junkermann Connection
Nicole Junkermann, a German-British investor known for her technology-focused NJF Holdings fund, appears in two of the six emails. The first is a brief but significant message from May 2013.
Junkermann emailed Epstein's personal Gmail address (jeevacation@gmail.com) on May 24, 2013, with the subject line "Just met Ehud Barak at amfar." The email body is not available in the archive — only the metadata and subject line are preserved — but the subject line alone establishes that Junkermann encountered Barak at the amfAR gala (the Foundation for AIDS Research), one of the most prominent charity events in New York, and that she considered this noteworthy enough to immediately report to Epstein.
The amfAR gala is typically held during New York fashion week or in Cannes during the film festival, attracting celebrities, financiers, and political figures. That Junkermann's instinct was to email Epstein about meeting Barak suggests either that Epstein had a known interest in Barak's activities, or that the three had some existing connection that made the encounter relevant.
Junkermann's second appearance in the archive, eighteen months later, reveals that the connection between all three had deepened considerably — and had become explicitly commercial.
The Reporty Deal: Where All Lines Converge
The most substantive email in this collection was sent by Ehud Barak himself on December 17, 2014. It is the only email in these six written directly by Barak, and it is the most revealing.
Barak wrote to Darren Indyke (Epstein's longtime personal lawyer) and Nicole Junkermann, with Jeffrey Epstein cc'd:
From:Ehud BarakTo:Indyke Darren, Junkermann NicoleCC:Epstein JeffreyDate:December 17, 2014, 1:56 AMSubject:Fwd: Touch Base re Reporty DI,NJHi all
I'm trying to arrange a telco with Elichai (CEO) and his lawyer re Reporty, Next Steps and Q&A.
I prefer to start it on 1700GMT (1800 in Berlin,1200noon in NY)
Please let me know whether this works for you.
Assuming we will get satisfactory answers I prefer to move towards concluding the TS before the end of the year.
My IL lawyer will probably attend from IL as well. I'll be in London.
Pl provide me with tel numbers as well as your availability and names on Skype/FaceTime.
Feel free to contact me beforehand if necessary.
Looking forward
Best
EBSource: jmail.world / DOJ Release 9
This email is dense with significant details. "Reporty" refers to Reporty Homeland Security, an Israeli surveillance technology startup that developed an app for citizens to livestream incidents to emergency services. Barak would later become the company's chairman, and it was subsequently renamed Carbyne. "Elichai" refers to Amir Elichai, the company's CEO. "TS" likely refers to "term sheet" — the document outlining the terms of an investment deal.
The subject line — "Touch Base re Reporty DI,NJ" — uses initials for Darren Indyke and Nicole Junkermann, suggesting a familiarity among all parties. Barak is coordinating across three time zones (London, Berlin, New York) and involving his own Israeli lawyer, indicating a serious commercial transaction.
What makes this email particularly significant is the cc line: Jeffrey Epstein. Barak was not simply maintaining a social relationship with Epstein — he was actively including Epstein in the loop on a technology investment deal involving Epstein's own lawyer and an investor from Epstein's circle. This places Epstein at the center of a business network connecting a former head of state, a surveillance tech company, and international investors.
Later that same day, at 1:27 PM, Barak sent a follow-up directly to Junkermann and Indyke (forwarding the earlier message), pressing for a same-day teleconference: "Please inform me if you'll be available for a teleconference with Reporty CEO and team today Wednesday 5pm GMT (4pm GMT is also possible if that's better for you). If you're available please send me your phone numbers."
The urgency — two emails in the same day, pushing for an immediate call — and Barak's language about wanting to "move towards concluding the TS before the end of the year" show this was an active, time-pressured deal. Carbyne later received investment from a fund connected to Epstein, and Barak served as chairman until stepping down in 2020 amid scrutiny of the Epstein connection.
Why This Matters
Ehud Barak's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein has been reported on previously — Barak acknowledged knowing Epstein and visiting his properties. But these six emails add documented specificity to what has largely been a story told through public statements and secondhand accounts.
The emails establish several things that matter for the public record. First, the relationship was active during Barak's time as Defense Minister. The November 2011 email shows Groff arranging a visit for Barak and his wife to see Epstein on a Sunday morning — this while Barak held one of the most sensitive national security positions in Israel. Second, the relationship continued well after Epstein's 2008 conviction, with no apparent change in the nature or frequency of contact. Third, the relationship was not merely social — by late 2014, Barak was actively conducting business through Epstein's network, using Epstein's own lawyer and an investor from Epstein's circle.
The Reporty/Carbyne connection is particularly noteworthy because it involves surveillance technology. A former Defense Minister and Prime Minister of Israel was coordinating with a convicted sex offender's personal lawyer to close a deal on a company that would provide emergency surveillance capabilities. Epstein was kept in the loop on the deal via cc.
These emails do not tell us everything about the Barak-Epstein relationship. They are six messages out of what was likely a much larger body of communication. But they are real, verified, and publicly accessible — and they document, in the participants' own words, a relationship that extended from social visits to active business coordination over a period of at least four years.
