Epstein’s network; Israel and Norwegian contacts
Israel is central to the network Epstein built up. Key figures included Ehud Barak, Alan Dershowitz, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Thorbjorn Jagland, Mona Juul and Terje Roed-Larsen. This raises many questions, including about Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s role in the network.
February 4, 2026 | INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
Mugshot of Jeffrey Epstein
Israel is central to the network linking Norwegian diplomats, Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Clinton. The network can be traced back to the early 1990s. Businessman Bill Gates was also central to the network, and he has investments in Israel. Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit had relations with both Gates and Epstein.
The information presented in this article is based on sources that are listed at the end.
According to an FBI report that has been made public in the Epstein files, an unnamed witness is said to have explained that Jeffrey Epstein and Alan Dershowitz (Epstein’s lawyer) were Mossad agents. Epstein is said to have been trained by Ehud Barak, who had a background in the Israeli military and became prime minister in 1999. This has never been confirmed and must therefore be interpreted as a claim. However, Epstein’s relationship with Ehud Barak and Alan Dershowitz is well documented through the Epstein files.
In 1991 Epstein donated money to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, and in 1999 he donated to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign. It later became known that Clinton was a frequent guest of Epstein. Bill and Hillary Clinton will soon have to explain their relationship with Epstein before the US Congress.
Terje Roed-Larsen and Mona Juul were negotiators in the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO (the Palestine Liberation Organization). Two agreements were concluded, Oslo I in 1993 and Oslo II in 1995. During these years Ehud Barak advanced from Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces to interior minister and foreign minister.
Ehud Barak was prime minister of Israel from 1999 to 2001. Thorbjorn Jagland had already served as prime minister of Norway (from 1996 to 1997), but was foreign minister from 2000 to 2001 and met Ehud Barak in 2000. However, it is likely that they had met earlier.
The Oslo Accord was fragile, and it eventually became clear that it was not being followed up. In October 2000 Jagland was appointed to a committee that was to investigate acts of violence between Israel and Palestine. The committee was appointed by the then US president Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO president Yasser Arafat.
From 2001 to 2005 Mona Juul was Norway’s ambassador to Israel; she was appointed by Thorbjorn Jagland. In 2002 Thorbjorn Jagland and his wife Hanne went on holiday to visit Mona Juul and Terje Roed-Larsen in Israel, which confirms that the relationship between them was close.
In 2005 Terje Roed-Larsen became head of the International Peace Institute in New York, a position he held until 2020. Mona Juul was deputy ambassador for Norway’s permanent delegation to the UN in New York from 2002 to 2010. She has since held various diplomatic positions, but is now relieved of her duties as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq as a result of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ review of the Epstein case.
Thorbjorn Jagland was chair of the Nobel Committee from 2009 to 2015 and a member until 2020. He was Secretary General of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019.
In 2011 Epstein’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz wrote a critical article in The Wall Street Journal in which he accused Norway of antisemitism after being rejected as a speaker at the University of Trondheim. Alan Dershowitz was a prominent professor at Harvard University and is now retired. Despite his long relationship with Epstein, he has stated that the friendship ended after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 and was convicted of sex trafficking of minors, but he acknowledges having continued as legal adviser.
It is believed that Crown Princess Mette-Marit was introduced to Epstein by Boris Nikolic, who was a close adviser to Bill Gates. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess received Bill Gates and his wife Melinda in audience at the Royal Palace in 2009. In 2013 Bill and Melinda Gates visited the Crown Prince couple at their holiday property on Dvergsoya outside Kristiansand. Bill and Melinda divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. Melinda has gone far in revealing that this was due to her husband’s lifestyle. Bill Gates had extensive contact with Jeffrey Epstein, something that is documented through both files and photographs in the Epstein files. In an interview with Gail King of CBS, Melinda Gates stated that she met Jeffrey Epstein once, and that she immediately felt an unease that later gave her nightmares.
The overview given above raises questions about the role of Norwegian public figures in Epstein’s network: what did they contribute, have they received financial compensation, did they make use of Epstein’s procuring of sexual services, and not least: have they shared Norwegian state secrets?
Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Okokrim) has confirmed that it will assess documentation emerging from the Epstein files with regard to economic crime, but the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) has not provided any information about an investigation. Furthermore, neither PST nor the Royal House of Norway has provided an account of what assessments were made regarding the contact the Norwegian diplomats and Mette-Marit had with Jeffrey Epstein. Norwegian citizens, who finance both PST, the diplomatic service and the Royal House, are entitled to an explanation.
Samfunn og Politikk will return with an overview of Borge Brende’s contact with Jeffrey Epstein. Brende is a former Norwegian politician and is now President and CEO of the World Economic Forum.
There will also be an article that points to the Labour Party’s contacts and references to Russia in the period before and after 1985, when Labour Party politician Arne Treholt was convicted of espionage on behalf of Russia and Iraq.
SOURCES
The Times of Israel
Epstein Files: FBI source alleged Israel, Russia, UAE influence on US officialsU.S. Department of Justice
Epstein files – Confidential Human Source FBI reportStore Norske Leksikon
Biographical article about Ehud BarakUSA Today
A look at former Israeli leader Ehud Barak’s decade-plus friendship with Jeffrey EpsteinThe Wall Street Journal
Opinion piece: Norway to Jews – You’re Not Welcome HereHarvard Law Today
Dershowitz commentary on the Wall Street Journal article about Norway and JewsBusiness Insider
Unsealed Epstein court documents contain detailed allegations involving Alan DershowitzStore Norske Leksikon
Reference article on the Oslo AccordsCouncil of Europe
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland meets Israeli President Shimon PeresCouncil of Europe
Official statement condemning terrorist attack in Jerusalem, IsraelAftenposten
Feature on Jagland’s difficult year and visit to Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul in IsraelDagbladet
Jagland joins Middle East commissionIndependent
Timeline of Bill Clinton and Jeffrey Epstein’s friendshipBBC
Clintons agree to testify on Epstein as vote looms to hold them in contempt of CongressBDS Movement
Bill Gates criticized over links to alleged Israeli prison tortureMondoweiss
How Microsoft is invested in Israeli settler-colonialismHaaretz
Bill Gates makes first trip to Israel and outlines cooperation dealGovernment of Israel
Prime Minister Sharon meets Microsoft Chairman Bill GatesTV 2
The Crown Princess’s unknown friend – this is the mysterious man BorisYouTube/CBS Mornings
Interview with Melinda Gates
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