'Epstein’s Scandal' in USA Reaches Israel's Elections Battle

Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv last week (AFP)
Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv last week (AFP)
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'Epstein’s Scandal' in USA Reaches Israel's Elections Battle

Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv last week (AFP)
Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv last week (AFP)

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak threatened to file a suit against the British newspaper, Daily Mail, for allegedly libeling him in billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s scandal.

Barak said his rivals in the Israeli right-wing are running a global campaign to discredit him and make him fail in toppling Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.

His name was linked to the case of Epstein, who was accused of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex because they are business partners.

However, the British newspaper mentioned another kind of partnership, related to prostitution and women. It published a picture of him hiding his face as he entered the convicted sex offender’s Manhattan townhouse.

“A bevy of young women were also seen going into the multi-millionaires lavish seven-story home on the same day that Barak was snapped,” according to the newspaper.

The Israeli right-wing immediately sought to exploit the new scene and place the “Epstein-Barak scandal” at the core of the Israeli electoral battle. Yet, Barak reiterated having no relations with Epstein that exceed commercial matters.

Current and former premiers exchanged accusations on Twitter after the scandal of arresting a billionaire in prostitution charges from more than a week.

Netanyahu published on his official account a press report about Epstein’s arrest and the relations between him and Barak, and he attached the report with a comment saying: “the media remains silent.”

“It is painful to discover that one of your acquaintances is involved in criminal activities. First Netanyahu and now Epstein,” Barak responded on his official Twitter account.

Netanyahu has repeatedly tweeted about the relations between Barak and Epstein and how the latter “gave Barak $2.5 million.”

Epstein was arrested on July 6 in New York, and he has appeared before the court. In 2007 and 2008, Epstein was accused of molesting minors. Probes revealed that he had paid young girls for sexual services and promoted their services to other people.



US Supreme Court Approves Deportation of Migrants to South Sudan

The US Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump's administration to resume deportations of migrants to countries that are not their own. Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES/AFP/File
The US Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump's administration to resume deportations of migrants to countries that are not their own. Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES/AFP/File
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US Supreme Court Approves Deportation of Migrants to South Sudan

The US Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump's administration to resume deportations of migrants to countries that are not their own. Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES/AFP/File
The US Supreme Court has allowed President Donald Trump's administration to resume deportations of migrants to countries that are not their own. Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES/AFP/File

The US Supreme Court on Thursday gave the green light for the Trump administration to deport a group of migrants stranded at an American military base in Djibouti to war-torn South Sudan.

The decision by the conservative-dominated top court comes 10 days after it cleared the way for the Trump administration to deport migrants to countries that are not their own.

The eight migrants were being flown to South Sudan from the US in May but ended up in Djibouti when a district court imposed a stay on third-country deportations.

The court said migrants were not being given a "meaningful opportunity" to contest removal.

On June 23, the Supreme Court lifted the stay imposed by District Judge Brian Murphy, clearing the way for third-country deportations.

But Murphy, an appointee of former president Joe Biden, said the case of the eight migrants who ended up in Djibouti was subject to a separate stay order he issued that had not been addressed by the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court said its June 23 decision applied to both of the judge's orders.

Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the decision.

"What the Government wants to do, concretely, is send the eight noncitizens it illegally removed from the United States from Djibouti to South Sudan, where they will be turned over to the local authorities without regard for the likelihood that they will face torture or death," Sotomayor said.

"Today's order clarifies only one thing: Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial," she said.

The US authorities have said that the eight men -- two from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan -- are convicted violent criminals.

The Trump administration has defended third-country deportations as necessary since the home nations of some of those who are targeted for removal sometimes refuse to accept them.

Donald Trump campaigned for president promising to expel millions of undocumented migrants from the United States, and he has taken a number of actions aimed at speeding up deportations since returning to the White House in January.