(February 16, 2026)

Epstein was keen to profit from armed conflicts on the African continent. While negotiating DP World’s access to Nigeria, he was also helping Zeitlin navigate around U.S. sanctions on Ivan Glasenberg, the Israeli-South African CEO of mining giant Glencore, and Oleg Deripaska, then-chairman of the Russian aluminum titan Rusal. Glencore’s operations had been disrupted by a fraud probe into their dealings with Israeli mining kingpin Dan Gertler in Congo-Kinshasa. “Do you know Oleg Deripaska or Ivan Glasenberg?” Zeitlin asked Epstein. “Easy,” Epstein replied.

The American financier had deep ties to Israeli mining and military outfits in Africa, which he helped support alongside former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak—a close associate with whom Epstein corresponded almost daily. “With civil unrest exploding in ukraine syria, somolia, libya, and the desperation of those in power,” Epstein wrote in a 2014 email to Barak, “isn’t this perfect for you.” Barak replied, “You’re right [in] a way. But not simple to transform it into a cash flow.”