Jeffrey Epstein

Matthew Petti | 2.3.2026 10:30 AM

Qatar and Israel are bitter rivals. While the Israeli government blames Qatar for backing "hatred, antisemitism and terror," the Qatari monarch accuses Israel of "genocide." And the war of words briefly became a hot war last year, as Israeli warplanes bombed Qatar to kill Hamas officials living there.

But in 2018, leaders from the two Middle Eastern states were brought together by one man: Jeffrey Epstein.

The late sex predator arranged an unreported meeting between former Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2018, files released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday revealed. (Al Thani, better known as HBJ, is a member of the Qatari royal family.) The meeting came as Epstein worked behind the scenes to resolve the 2017 crisis in the Persian Gulf.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates blockaded and reportedly threatened to invade Qatar over its support for Islamist rebels and its hosting of Turkish troops, pitting U.S. partners against U.S. partners. Epstein, who cultivated extensive ties to leaders across the Middle East, tried to insert himself into back-channel negotiations to resolve it.

Neither Barak nor the Qatari embassy responded to a request for comment. Although HBJ, Barak, and other figures Epstein talked to about the crisis were out of government, Epstein clearly believed that they still had influence in the Gulf.

"I am keeping our primary goal in mind. in that regard I know that HBJ would like to sit with MBS in a face to face. . IF your guy can organize, i think it would be a good step," Epstein wrote in a July 2017 email to Anas al-Rasheed, a Kuwaiti professor who used to be a cabinet minister. (MBS is the nickname of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.) That "goal" seems to have been an end to the split among Gulf states.

In a follow-up email, Epstein clarified that HBJ wasn't officially speaking for the Qatari government........

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