Release
of latest Epstein files unleashes online wave of antisemitic conspiracies
As
conspiracy theories about Israel and Jews surge online, researchers says
‘people are taking these things and turning them into proof for whatever
conspiracy they already believe in’
By Grace
Gilson
6
February 2026, 6:51 am
JTA — A
bank account named for an ancient god in Israel. A “synagogue of Satan.”
References to “goyim” that hint at a Jewish-run global cabal. The mystery of
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s alleged visit to China.
These are
among the latest antisemitic conspiracy theories to be born from the Jeffrey
Epstein files, following the document dump that has occupied online
commentators for days.
Since the
financial advisor and sex trafficker’s arrest by federal authorities in July
2019 and death by suicide a month later, antisemitic conspiracy theories about
him have circulated widely, often invoking his Jewish identity and connections
with Jewish and Israeli leaders.
But the
US Justice Department’s newly released batch of Epstein files on Friday, which
contained over 3 million pages of documents, has taken things to a new
intensity.
“If you
think Epstein was just some rich pedo, you’re missing the big picture,” wrote
the X account Clandestine, which has more than 734,000 followers. “Epstein was
part of the satanic global elite that pull the strings from the shadows.
Epstein was a Deep State puppet master.”
Mike
Rothschild, a writer who researches antisemitic conspiracy theories on the far
right, said the amount of material available in the files made them fertile
ground for misinterpretation and confirmation bias.
“Whatever
your particular brand of conspiracy theory is, there’s something in the files
for you,” Rothschild told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “One of the problems
that we’re having is that there is so much information and there’s no filter
for it.”
Among the
real revelations in the documents are a variety of exchanges of relevance to
the broader Jewish world. Those include revelations that various Jewish
nonprofits had courted Epstein for donations even after his conviction,
evidence of Epstein’s financial ties with several Orthodox yeshivas, and new
details about his well-known relationship with former prime minister Ehud
Barak.
Some of
the emails also show Epstein referencing the High Holidays and deploying Jewish
phrases like “goyim” in a disparaging manner.
“This is
the way the jew make money.. and made a fortune in the past ten years„ selling
short the shippping futures„ let the goyim deal in the real world,” wrote
Epstein in a 2009 email to the cognitive psychologist and onetime Trump
University executive Roger Schank.
In
another email dated August 2010 to Jewish entertainment publicist Peggy Siegal,
discussing a party guest list, Epstein wrote, “No, goyim in abundance- jpmorgan
execs brilliant wasps.”
Some of
the largest conspiracist personalities seized on the new document dump,
claiming that it confirmed their longstanding beliefs about secret Jewish
control.
“Remember
the end of last year when I was called antisemitic for telling you this is the
literal, religious worldview of many people in power?,” Candace Owens,
right-wing commentator turned conspiracist, wrote in a post on X responding to
a photo of an email where Epstein used the term. “Type in ‘goy’ or ‘goyim’ in
the Epstein files and be sure to tag a Christian who needs to wake up and leave
the Zionist cause.”
In an
hour-long livestream titled “BAAL SO HARD: The Epstein Files,” Owens referred
to Jews as “pagan gypsies” and repeated the neo-Nazi conspiracy that B’nai
Brith was behind the “ritualistic murder” of Mary Phagan, whose killing sparked
the antisemitic lynching of Leo Frank in 1915.
“The
Epstein files create an opportunity for us to discuss this, to hear the way
they speak about us behind closed doors exactly how Sigmund Freud spoke, it’s
racist,” said Owens during the stream, which had reached 2 million views on
YouTube Thursday. “I want to make it clear that this is for them a religious
philosophy, a racist perspective that we are goyim, meaning cattle, that are
meant to be herded and ruled over.”
On
Sunday, Owens posted on X, “Yes, we are ruled by satanic pedophiles who work
for Israel,” adding “This is the synagogue of Satan we are up against.”
It isn’t
just leading antisemitic personalities but rank-and-file social media users who
have sought to paint the data dump as an indictment of Jewish power.
“Normies:
‘let’s not jump to any antisemitic conclusions, we don’t know why Epstein did
these terrible things.’ Epstein: ‘I love trafficking children, manipulating
markets, and don’t believe goyim are human. Also this is all because I am
Jewish,’” wrote an Eastern Orthodox Christianity influencer on X.
The Nexus
Project, an antisemitism watchdog group, condemned the proliferation of
antisemitic Epstein conspiracy theories in a series of posts on X, writing,
“The Epstein files are real. The antisemitism they’re fueling is also real. And
right now, the second part is getting almost no attention.”
“Jeffrey
Epstein was a monster. His crimes were real. His victims deserve justice and
are being revictimized right now by the DOJ,” the Nexus Project wrote. “Turning
his private emails into proof of a Jewish conspiracy is pure antisemitism. And
it is spreading faster than anyone is willing to say.”
Rothschild
said he believed the files were “reinforcing stuff that these people already
are pushing out.”
“If you
are predisposed to believe Candace Owens’ theory that Israel is behind
everything bad that’s ever happened, you’re going to find it in the Epstein
files, even if it’s not there, because there’s so many mentions and there’s so
much intrigue swirling around about it, because it’s just all this raw material
you can kind of use it to make whatever you want,” said Rothschild.
New
conspiracy theories also stemmed from an email exchange where Epstein requested
money be wired to a bank account that some concluded was titled “Baal,” the
name of an ancient Canaanite god.
“BREAKING:
EPSTEIN NAMED HIS BANK ACCOUNT BAAL,” wrote AdameMedia, a popular right wing X
account that frequently posts conspiratorial content. “Baal is a demonic being
that was worshipped in ancient israel by some hebrews before they converted to
Judaism. Child sacrifice is a ritual of Baal worshippers, usually through
burning, like lsraeI did to Gaza. Archaeological discoveries have found
thousands of urns with cremated infant and small children remains. Now we have
evidence of Epstein’s circle kiIIing and even eating children.” (Similar files
say “bank name” where this one says “baal,” suggesting an error.)
Others
across the ideological spectrum extended longstanding theories about Epstein’s
ties to Israel.
On
Friday, the right-wing anti-Israel personality Tucker Carlson hosted Cenk
Uygur, the progressive co-creator of The Young Turks, for a podcast interview
titled “Cenk Uygur: Epstein, JFK, 9-11, Israel’s Terrorism and the Consequences
of Opposing It,” during which the pair claimed that Epstein was an agent of the
Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. (In July, Carlson received pushback from
former prime minister Naftali Bennett after he said Epstein worked for Mossad.)
“Jeffrey
Epstein was much more powerful than we realized. He could set up a meeting with
almost any world leader. He can get almost anyone into the White House. Again,
Ehud Barak has trouble getting into the White House, Epstein makes a call,
boom, he’s in the White House. Israeli spy stays over at Epstein’s house,” said
Uygur. “There’s just no question about it. He is definitely intelligence and in
every turn he’s looking to help one country and it’s Israel. American media
says shut up.”
Far-left
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker also repeated the claim that Epstein was working
for Israel in a post on X Sunday.
“Benjamin
netenyahu [sic] is in the files and former pm ehud barak has such an extensive
relationship w esptein [sic] they might as well call it the israel files what
the fuck are you talking about,” wrote Piker in another post on X, responding
to influencer Eyal Yakoby’s claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was not named in the files.
The
Justice Department’s Epstein database includes 659 search results for
“Netanyahu,” but the vast majority of the documents that appear under the
search include news articles forwarded to and from Epstein relating to the
Israeli leader.
“Going by
sort of the raw number of mentions in an email database is not helpful, because
there’s no context for it,” said Rothschild. “If there’s 630 mentions of
Netanyahu, but 100 of them are just forwarded articles, and 100 of them are
people responding to Epstein saying how much they hate Netanyahu, that doesn’t
mean anything. It just means that you have this number and people run with it,
because people are taking these things and turning them into proof for whatever
conspiracy they already believe in.”
On X,
another conspiracy theory took hold after users claimed that an email sent from
China to Epstein in April 2009 coincided with a trip by Netanyahu that same
month. (The article cited said Netanyahu met with the Chinese foreign affairs
minister in Jerusalem, not China.)
“Benjamin
Netanyahu was in China and it seems likely that he was the man sending Jeffrey
Epstein torture videos,” wrote Jake Shields, a far-right influencer and former
MMA champion, in a post on X.
Other
emails appeared to tie Epstein to Russia, leading to speculation that he had
provided intelligence to the country and prompting calls for an investigation
by the Polish prime minister.
Some
conspiracy theorists online rejected the idea that Epstein might have been a
Russian asset, instead suggesting it is a distraction being offered to take the
heat off Israel.
“The memo
went out, and the media is trying to say that Jeffrey Epstein worked for the
KGB,” said the TikTok influencer “contraryian” in a video posted Tuesday that
has amassed more than 30,000 likes. “He might have had multiple passports, but
he talked to Israeli politicians, Jewish businessmen, and repeatedly invokes
his Jewish identity.”
In
response to a New York Post article about Epstein’s alleged Russian
affiliations, one X user with 300,000 followers and a stream of antisemitic
posts claimed that the coverage was evidence of a “Jewish controlled media.”
“Jeffrey
Epstein- ‘I work for the Rothschilds, Israel, and world Jewry.’ Jew York Post-
‘Epstein probably worked for the Russians….,’” the post, read. “You don’t hate
the Jewish controlled media enough.”
In a
podcast episode Monday, Jewish conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, who has
previously criticized conservative rivals for linking Epstein with Mossad, said
there was not evidence in the files that Epstein was blackmailing people “on
behalf of a foreign power or a cadre of powerful people who are attempting to
shape global policy.”
Rothschild,
the conspiracy theory expert, said everything he has seen reflects deep-seated
antisemitic animus among conspiracy theorists.
“Antisemitism
is huge in these circles, it always has been,” he said. “Whether it’s just
outright attacks on Jews, or the sort of more crouched globalists, European
bankers, you know, antisemitism is a huge part of that world.”
But he
emphasized that not all claims about Epstein amount conspiracy theories — which
is why the drumbeat of antisemitism can continue unabated.
“Jeffrey
Epstein was part of a cabal. I mean, it’s not like the Elders of Zion sitting
around in a dark room, you know, deciding on the fates of nations, but it’s
pretty clear that Epstein was at the center of a gigantic conspiracy,” said
Rothschild. “That’s not a theory. That has nothing to do with Judaism. It has
everything to do with greed and perversion.”
The
consequences, he said, are bad for the Jews and for everyone else.
“Anything
that calcifies our politics and our discourse even more, I think is very
dangerous,” Rothschild said. “Certainly there’s always going to be a danger
that it falls disproportionately on the Jewish community. I think it’s probably
making life difficult for actual survivors of trauma like this to get people to
pay attention to them.”
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