Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett dismissed allegations that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein worked for Israeli intelligence services, describing the claims from U.S. media figures as being part of “a vicious wave of slander and lies” against Israel.

A deflated conspiracy theory that Jeffrey Epstein was a foreign spy re-emerged over the weekend, with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson declaring that the financier and convicted sex offender was connected to Mossad,

Ex-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rebuked Tucker Carlson over his claim that the alleged sex pest Jeffrey Epstein led a blackmail campaign on behalf of the Mossad. Bennett, 53, characterized the conspiratorial remarks from Carlson—and others on the right—as a “vicious wave of slander and lies” against Israel.