Joel Zamel
{{Short description|Australian-Israeli inventor (born 1986)}}{{Copy edit|date=May 2025}}
Joel Zamel (born 1986) is an Australian-Israeli inventor, entrepreneur, owner and operator of private intelligence and political analysis agencies offering forecasting simulations, wargaming, influence operations, social media campaigns, private investment brokering and election campaign strategy. Such firms include Wikistrat, a geostrategic consultancy firm, Joel Zamel Investment Group (JZIG), White Knight, and Psy-Group, an agency specializing in counter-extremism activities and social media operations.{{Citation|url=https://www.Joelzamel.com|title=Joel Zamel Private Investment Group|access-date=2020-01-21}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-who-is-joel-zamel-australian-israeli-linked-to-mueller-s-trump-probe-1.6104963 |title=Who Is Joel Zamel, the Australian-Israeli Linked to Mueller's Trump Probe? |last=Sommer |first=Allison Kaplan |date=2018-05-21 |work=Haaretz |access-date=2019-06-04 |language=en}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-australian-caught-up-in-mueller-s-us-election-probe |title=The Australian caught up in Mueller's US election probe |last=Rosemary Bolger, Leesha McKenny |date=22 May 2018 |website=SBS News |language=en |access-date=2019-06-04}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/swiss-mystery-company-is-at-the-heart-of-a-mueller-puzzle|title=Swiss Mystery Company Is at the Heart of a Mueller Puzzle|last=Rawnsley|first=Erin Banco{{!}}Adam|date=2019-02-12|access-date=2019-06-04|language=en}}
Early life and education
Joel Zamel was born in Australia in 1986,{{Cite web |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/18/private-mossad-for-hire |title=Private Mossad for Hire |last=Farrow |first=Adam EntousRonan |date=2019-02-18 |website=www.newyorker.com |access-date=2019-06-04}} the son of Gary Zamel, a wealthy Australian mining engineer and businessman. Zamel attended the University of New South Wales in Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Mining Engineering and later moved to Israel studying at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, specializing in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security and graduating with a master's degree in government, Diplomacy and Strategy. He a member of the Central Eurasia Leadership Alliance network.{{Cite web|url=https://celanetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/zara/Academies/CELA_CELA%208%20Bio%20Book.pdf|title=CELA 8 BIOGRAPHIES|date=2011|website=celanetwork.org|access-date=2019-06-05|archive-date=2021-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710211429/https://celanetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/zara/Academies/CELA_CELA%208%20Bio%20Book.pdf|url-status=dead}}
Career
Zamel is the founder of a number of private intelligence and political analysis agencies including Wikistrat, a geostrategic consultancy firm, and White Knight. Zamel gained widespread visibility and public attention in 2018, after a number of media sources reported about Wikistrat during Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation.
Zamel's agencies have a broad network of analysts consisting primarily of former government officials and private experts. He is also an active investor in the cybersecurity sector, especially for those firms with a focus on CVE efforts.{{cite news|last=Liebkind|first=Joe|title=The Crucial Role of Powerbrokers in International Affairs|url=https://intpolicydigest.org/2019/10/17/the-crucial-role-of-powerbrokers-in-international-affairs/|accessdate=29 November 2019|newspaper=International Policy Digest|date=October 17, 2019}} He has established various social media influence companies based in Eastern Europe and Asia, and has formed a close advisory team of former senior government officials who served at upper levels of government in the U.S., UK and Middle East.{{cite news|last1=Stedman|first1=Scott|last2=Hulvalchik|first2=Alex|last3=DeNault|first3=Bobby|last4=Levai|first4=Eric|last5=Gonzales Jr.|first5=Xavier|last6=Cobb|first6=Adrienne|last7=Coleman|first7=Jess|title=Israeli private intelligence firm claimed recruitment of Khashoggi prior to murder (Financial Structure Section)|url= https://forensicnews.net/2019/10/22/israeli-private-intelligence-firm-claimed-recruitment-of-khashoggi-prior-to-murder/|accessdate=24 November 2019|newspaper=Forensic News|date=October 22, 2019 }}
In 2015, Zamel's Wikistrat spent a week running scenarios called the "Cyber Mercenaries project" on how a U.S. election interference campaign could be made by Russian cyber actors, which was later reported to Donald Trump Jr in 2016.
On August 3, 2016, Zamel participated in a high-level meeting with Donald Trump Jr., Erik Prince, Stephen Miller and George Nader. This was followed by a post inauguration meeting in December 2016 with George Nader, Steve Bannon former vice president of Cambridge Analytica,{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/16/15657512/cambridge-analytica-facebook-alexander-nix-christopher-wylie|title=Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia link, explained|last=Illing|first=Sean|date=2017-10-16|website=Vox|access-date=2019-06-04}} and Jared Kushner{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/us/politics/trump-jr-saudi-uae-nader-prince-zamel.html |title=Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election |last1=Mazzetti |first1=Mark |date=2018-05-19 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2019-06-04 |last2=Bergman |first2=Ronen |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |last3=Kirkpatrick |first3=David D.}}{{Cite web|url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/05/understanding-the-new-trump-campaign-collusion-story.html|title=Beyond Russia: Understanding the New Trump Campaign Collusion Story| last=Danner| first=Chas|date=2018-05-20| website=Intelligencer|access-date=2019-06-04}}
After the 2016 Trump election win, Zamel's company Psy Group formed a partnership with Cambridge Analytica to jointly bid for contracts with the American Government.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/israeli-intelligence-company-formed-venture-with-trump-campaign-firm-cambridge-analytica-1527030765|title=Israeli Intelligence Company Formed Venture With Trump Campaign Firm Cambridge Analytica| last1=Tau| first1=Byron| date=2018-05-23| work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2019-06-04|last2=Ballhaus|first2=Rebecca|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}} In December 2016, George Nader used WhiteKnight, based in the Philippines, to purchase a presentation demonstrating the impact of social media campaigns on Donald Trump's electoral victory.
Zamel had first met Nader at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2016. In November 2016 George Nader paid Zamel $2M for undisclosed reasons.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestreet.com/phildavis/news/qanon-is-an-attack-on-democracy-and-must-be-eliminated|title=QAnon is an Attack on Democracy and Must Be Eliminated|website=Phil Davis|date=20 January 2021 }} Prince then lied about it to congress.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM4nJcCSGEU Fmr. Blackwater Founder Erik Prince Gets Called Out For Apparently Lying], MSNBC, 12. March 2019
The meeting with Trump was later scrutinised by Robert Mueller's Special Counsel investigation and subsequent investigations into his links to Trump officials, which continued after the Mueller investigation finished.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/world/middleeast/crown-prince-mohammed-bin-zayed.html|title=The Most Powerful Arab Ruler Isn't M.B.S. It's M.B.Z.|last=Kirkpatrick|first=David D.|date=2019-06-02|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-06-04|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Zamel's meetings with Saudi officials were also scrutinised by Mueller.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/11/world/middleeast/saudi-iran-assassinations-mohammed-bin-salman.html|title=Saudis Close to Crown Prince Discussed Killing Other Enemies a Year Before Khashoggi's Death|last1=Mazzetti|first1=Mark|date=2018-11-11|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-06-06|last2=Bergman|first2=Ronen|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|last3=Kirkpatrick|first3=David D.}}
In February 2019, federal agents detained Zamel at a Washington airport and he appeared before a grand jury to give evidence to Robert Mueller about his links to George Nader.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-22/mueller-targeted-flows-of-money-to-israeli-social-media-company|title=Mueller Asked About Money Flows to Israeli Social-Media Firm, Source Says|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=22 May 2018 |access-date=2019-06-04}} Zamel bragged to Nader that he had conducted a secret campaign which had been influential in Trump's victory, a characterisation which Zamel's lawyer has disputed.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/rick-gates-tells-mueller-about-trump-teams-dealings-with-israeli-intelligence-firm |title=Rick Gates Tells Mueller About Trump Team's Dealings With Israeli Intelligence Firm |last=Banco |first=Erin |date=2019-01-16 |access-date=2019-06-04 |language=en}} Zamel also had contact with Michael Flynn.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-mysterious-intelligence-firm-now-in-muellers-sights |title=Inside Wikistrat, the Mysterious Intelligence Firm Now in Mueller's Sights |last=Klippenstein |first=Ken |date=2018-06-04 |access-date=2019-06-04 |language=en}}
On April 5, 2019, the Senate Intelligence Committee sends letter to Walter Soriano the owner of USG Security Limited based in Britain for his communication with Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Psy-Group, Wikistrat, and Black Cube, Orbis Business Intelligence (a firm co-founded by Christopher Steele). Soriano has links to Oleg Deripaska.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/appeals-court-in-dc-rules-judges-may-not-create-exceptions-to-grand-jury-secrecy-rules/2019/04/05/b72053ae-57b6-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html |title=Appeals court in D.C. rules judges may not create exceptions to grand-jury secrecy rules |last1=Jackman |first1=Tom |last2=Hsu |first2=Spencer S. |date=April 5, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 12, 2019}} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/900572833 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/900477223 cite #107 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. User:GreenC bot/Job 18}}
Zamel's firms have completed work for Oleg V. Deripaska and Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Zamel has been represented by Marc Mukasey, who specialises in reputation protection.{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/Business%20Wire/c80d9a6e835c4ead9540c784d8f73f72|title=Marc L. Mukasey and Partners Announce Formation of Mukasey Frenchman & Sklaroff LLP, a Boutique Trial Law Firm|date=2019-03-20|website=AP NEWS|access-date=2019-06-04}} Mukasey, a former law partner of Rudy Giuliani, also had President Donald Trump as a client as well as Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, and the Trump Foundation in response to the civil lawsuit filed by the New York State Attorney General's Office.{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisgeidner/marc-mukasey-trump-giuliani|title=One Of Donald Trump's New Attorneys Recently Left His Global Law Firm|website=BuzzFeed News|date=11 February 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-06-04}} as well as Eddie Gallagher a soldier accused of committing war crimes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/us/trump-pardons-war-crimes.html|title=Trump May Be Preparing Pardons for Servicemen Accused of War Crimes|last=Philipps|first=Dave|date=2019-05-18|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-06-04|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
Beliefs
Zamel believes Bitcoin is a “truth machine protected by a fortress of misconceptions.” {{cite web | url=https://www.neweurope.eu/article/bitcoins-endgame-why-sovereign-investment-offers-the-final-layer-of-legitimacy/ | title=Bitcoin's endgame: Why sovereign investment offers the final layer of legitimacy | work=New Europe | date=October 2021 }}
Zamel believes in information operations as an underutilized tool for countering extremist ideologies. He believes “dictators are beating the West when it comes to sophisticated information operations.” {{cite web | url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/information-operations-are-critical-defending-western-civilization-190714 | title=Information Operations are Critical to Defending Western Civilization | date=2 August 2021 }} Has advocated for “exploiting the frequent protest movements in Iran and the ever-present disgust with the regime through covert on-the-ground and digital support”.{{cite web | url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/15122021-in-absence-of-soft-warfare-national-security-policy-will-continue-to-fail-against-global-threats-analysis/ | title=In Absence of Soft Warfare, National Security Policy Will Continue to Fail Against Global Threats – Analysis | date=15 December 2021 }}