Joel Zamel is an Australian-Israeli inventor, entrepreneur, businessman, and private investigator born in 1986. Based in Israel, he founded and operates several private intelligence and political analysis firms specializing in influence operations, social media campaigns, forecasting simulations, wargaming, election campaign strategy, geostrategic analysis, and private investment brokering. Notable companies include the now-defunct Psy-Group, an Israeli firm known for offering social media manipulation and political influence services, which gained notoriety after pitching services to the Trump 2016 campaign and shutting down amid investigations by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian election interference, though Zamel was not charged; Wikistrat, a geostrategic consultancy focused on crowd-sourced forecasting, simulations, and wargaming; and the Joel Zamel Investment Group (JZIG), which engages in private investment brokering. Psy-Group was criticized for its 'black ops' style intelligence services targeting elections and public opinion. Zamel's activities have drawn significant media and legal scrutiny due to alleged ties to U.S. political figures and foreign influence efforts, including meetings with Trump associates through intermediary George Nader and examinations of his firms for potential involvement in covert operations and global influence networks. Despite the controversies, Zamel continues operations through other entities focused on geopolitical analysis and investment.