Documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday reveal previously unreported details about financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s role as a backroom power broker amid the rapid strengthening of India-Israel ties in 2017.

Epstein connected an Indian billionaire close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak ahead of the first ever trip by an Indian PM to Israel. Days later, that billionaire, Anil Ambani, told Epstein after a visit to Delhi that “Leadership” wanted Epstein’s assistance for Ambani to meet “jared and Bannon asap,” and requested his “assistance” regarding Modi’s upcoming meeting with Trump.

Modi’s landmark visit to Israel in 2017 helped accelerate the burgeoning relationship between the three countries. Afterward, Epstein celebrated in an email that Modi had “danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president.”

On Saturday, the Indian government responded to the revelations about Modi’s visit to Israel in Epstein’s communications. “We have seen reports of an email message from the so-called Epstein files that has a reference to the Prime Minister and his visit to Israel,” said a statement by India’s foreign affairs ministry. “Beyond the fact of the Prime Minister’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the allusions in the email are little more than trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal, which deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt.”

What the Indian government did not address, however, was that individuals in Modi’s orbit had long been engaging with Epstein as a trusted intermediary on a wide range of diplomatic and economic issues. The story below makes some of those connections.

This is the latest in Drop Site’s series on Epstein and Israel. We are partnering with Jmail, a searchable inbox of Epstein’s emails, to make all the Epstein messages searchable and public. Please consider supporting our journalism with a free or paid subscription.

“Leadership Would Like Your Help”: Indian Billionaire Tapped Jeffrey Epstein Before Modi’s Visits to U.S. and Israel

Story by Meghnad Bose, Fatima Khan, and Biplob Kumar Das

On March 16, 2017, Anil Ambani, an Indian billionaire closely associated with Narendra Modi’s BJP government, sent financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a message that the “Leadership” was asking for his assistance in connecting with senior figures in Donald Trump’s orbit ahead of