Occupied Palestine (QNN)- A new investigation reveals that Jeffrey Epstein played a central role in arranging secret talks between the Israeli government and Côte d’Ivoire, culminating in a formal defense and surveillance agreement in 2014. The Drop Site News investigation reveals how former Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak and American financier Jeffrey Epstein collaborated to expand Israeli intelligence influence in West Africa, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). According to documents obtained by the US House Oversight Committee and a leak published by the Handala hacking group, Epstein and Barak worked together to broker surveillance and defense deals between Israel and the Ivorian government during and after Barak’s term as Israel’s defense minister. Epstein and Barak acted as intermediaries for Israeli intelligence and defense companies, pushing for deep involvement in Côte d’Ivoire’s security sector. Epstein described the political instability in Africa as a “perfect opportunity” for Barak, to which Barak replied that it was “not simple to transform unrest into cash flow.” Their collaboration began around 2012, as Côte d’Ivoire struggled after a disputed election that sparked violence and a French-UN intervention. When the new Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara, visited occupied Jerusalem to meet Barak and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Epstein was arranging meetings in New York with Ouattara’s relatives. Emails released by Congress show Epstein helped organize appointments and private discussions that linked Israeli defense officials with Ivorian power brokers. Later that year, Epstein flew to Africa, reportedly visiting Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, and Senegal to facilitate security cooperation. Two weeks after Epstein’s trip, the Ivorian interior minister visited Tel Aviv to discuss a bilateral security accord with Barak focused on intelligence sharing and cybercrime. Barak claimed his ties with Epstein were “private,” but the released documents show Epstein was already acting on Israel’s behalf while Barak was still in office. Even after resigning in 2013, Barak continued negotiating intelligence deals with Ivorian officials, aided by Epstein and a French-Israeli contractor group called MF Group. Emails show Barak exchanged coded messages with associates to conceal the dealings. The plans included a national surveillance network in Abidjan that would monitor phone and internet communications. The proposal was drafted by former Israeli intelligence officials Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash and Amnon Unger, both veterans of Israel’s Unit 8200, the army’s cyber and signals intelligence unit. Barak later met with Côte d’Ivoire’s president and interior minister to finalize the project. By 2014, following a UN decision to ease the arms embargo on the country, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman traveled to Abidjan to officially sign the Israel–Côte d’Ivoire security agreement, marking the culmination of Barak and Epstein’s covert campaign. Since then, President Ouattara has consolidated his rule. With the help of Israeli-trained forces, his government has banned protests, arrested dissidents, and restricted freedom of expression. Exiled activist Boga Sako Gervais said, “Under Ouattara, since 2011, freedoms of opinion, thought, and expression have been criminalized. It has become forbidden to criticize the head of state.” Analysts say the case of Côte d’Ivoire shows how Israel’s intelligence partnerships in Africa grew from private business deals into powerful tools of authoritarian control. Epstein and Barak’s role in exporting Israeli surveillance models abroad has raised new concerns about the global reach of Israel’s security industry and its ties to political repression.