Israel’s former prime minister, Ehud Barak, expressed interest in relaxing conversion requirements to allow “a million Russians” and “young, handsome girls” to the country, according to a recording released by the US Justice Department as part of the Epstein files.
In the conversation with the late sex offender, whom Barak met several times, he was heard saying that the Jewish state could “easily absorb another million” immigrants from Russian-speaking countries.
"I believe we have to break the monopoly of the Orthodox rabbinate on marriage and funerals and whatever, and on the definition of a Jew,” he said.
"[It would], in a sophisticated, certain manner, open the gates for massive conversion into Judaism. It’s a successful country, many will apply.
"We can control the quality much more effectively than our ancestors, than the founding fathers of Israel could… they took whatever came, now we can be selective.
"I think with a much more open mind...we can easily absorb another million.”
Apparently referring to the wave of immigration from the Soviet Union in the 1980s and ‘90s, he added: “I used to tell Putin, what we need is just one more million, it changed Israel in a dramatic, dramatic manner the million Russians.
"I think many would prefer [it] to being Belarussian and many young, handsome girls would come.”
In the recording Barak, who served as prime minister between 1999 and 2001, stated that he was 71 years old, dating the conversation to around 2013 or 2014.
It is not known who was recording the meeting or why and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Barak.
BREAKING:
— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) February 3, 2026
🇺🇸🇷🇺🇮🇱 Ex-Israeli PM Ehud Barak tells Jeffrey Epstein he repeatedly told Putin he wanted a million Russians to convert to Judaism and become Israeli to dramatically transform Israel:
"I used to tell Putin, always, what we need is just one more million to change Israel… pic.twitter.com/K5n28cEiMQ
The ex-prime minister made the comments after expressing concerns about the growth of the Arab-Israeli population, suggesting that Israel could become an “Arab-majority” country.
"The Charedim are more productive than the Arabs,” he went on.
"The future in Israel is waking up in the right moment, before it’s too late… It’s a collective blindness of our society.
"Even within the borders of smaller Israel, there is still an issue. I think the Arabs are growing slowly. Forty years ago, they were 16 per cent, now they’re 20.”
As well as Russian immigration, he also advocated absorbing the Druze, whom he described as “totally Israeli in their behaviour”, and Israel’s Christian minority to offset the demographic changes.
On the release of the recording, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt posted on X: “I am glad that when I was the Chief Rabbi of Moscow, we stopped this crazy initiative... [I] didn’t know then that it was discussed with Epstein.”
To get more Israel news, click here to sign up for our free Israel Briefing newsletter.