Percepto International
Israeli influence, intelligence and strategy firm based in Ramat Gan
| Percepto International
| |
|---|---|
| Trade name | PERCEPTO International – Masters Of Perception |
| Logo | 
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| Type | Private company (registered in Israel as L.R Perception International Ltd, company no. 516353521) |
| Founded | 2 March 2021 |
| Founder(s) | Lior Chorev; Royi Burstien |
| Headquarters | 5 Shoham Street, Ramat Gan 5250002, Israel (office); HaGefen 17, Kfar Ben Nun 9978000, Israel (registered address) |
| Industry | Influence operations; political consulting; intelligence; cyber |
| Services | Strategy, influence, intelligence and cyber |
| Homepage | perceptointernational.com |
Percepto International is an Israeli firm that describes itself as a "Public Perception company" with "Expertise in Strategy, Influence, Intelligence & Cyber". It was co-founded by the political strategist Lior Chorev and the retired Israeli military intelligence officer Royi Burstien, who had earlier run Psy-Group.[1]
In February 2023 the Forbidden Stories "Story Killers" project, working with Radio France, Haaretz and TheMarker, reported that journalists posing as clients had been offered Percepto's "deep avatars" (fake journalists, NGOs and influencers), and linked the firm to a 2020 campaign in Burkina Faso against the International Committee of the Red Cross.[2][3] In October 2023 the Washington Post reported that Percepto had been hired in 2021 to support the government of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in Burkina Faso and had used fake personas to counter Russian disinformation there.[4]
Registration
Israel's company register lists L.R Perception International Ltd (ל.ר. פרספשן אינטרנשיונל בע"מ), company number 516353521, a private company incorporated on 2 March 2021. Its registered objects permit any lawful business except activity requiring a licence from the Ministry of Defence's Defence Export Controls Agency (SIBAT), including defence export or security consulting. Its registered address, HaGefen 17, Kfar Ben Nun, is shared with L. Chorev Investments Ltd (ל. חורב השקעות בע"מ, no. 513874438, incorporated 13 September 2006).[5][6] Percepto's website lists Chorev as the founder of "L. Chorev Investments LTD".[1] RFI reported that Percepto was "Créée en mars 2021 par Lior Chorev et Royi Burstien".[7]
The firm's website gives its office as 5 Shoham Street, Ramat Gan, and its slogan as "Masters Of Perception".[1] The Washington Post placed its offices in the "diamond district outside Tel Aviv".[4]
People
| Name | Title | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Lior Chorev | Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer | 2021 – |
| Royi Burstien | Co-Founder, CEO & Chief Intelligence Officer | 2021 – |
Source: [1]
The same page presents a marketing executive, "Irina S.", and then states that "Irina actually does not exist. She is an avatar and she does not look like any existing human."[1]
Story Killers investigation (2023)
Reporters from Radio France, Haaretz and TheMarker infiltrated Percepto between July 2022 and January 2023 as part of the Forbidden Stories "Story Killers" project.[3] Haaretz published its account as "Antisemitic Influencers, Fake Journalists: Inside an Israeli Factory for Online Deception", saying the company had "run a fake investigative journalism site, rigged the reputation of a Netanyahu ally and meddled with elections in Burkina Faso".[8] TheMarker's Hebrew version was headlined "מפעל הרפש מרמת גן: חברת מבצעי התודעה של ליאור חורב ורועי בורשטיין נחשפת" ("The smear factory from Ramat Gan: Lior Chorev and Royi Burstein's perception-operations company exposed").[9]
On 14 March 2023 Frédéric Métézeau of Radio France told a French National Assembly committee of inquiry into foreign interference that Percepto, "Très actif en Afrique francophone", used "avatars profonds, faux profils de faux journalistes, fausses ONG et faux influenceurs", each with its own website, email address and mobile number. He said Royi Burstien had offered to "activer M. Kémi Seba via un avatar, qui pourrait être un faux oligarque russe basé à Monaco", and that the reporters had not taken this up.[3]
Burkina Faso and the ICRC
According to Forbidden Stories, an op-ed published by Valeurs Actuelles on 3 August 2020 under the name of Emmanuel Dupuy accused the International Committee of the Red Cross of acting as a "sponsor" of armed Islamist groups in Burkina Faso; Dupuy said the material had come from Samuel Sellem.[2] Métézeau told the National Assembly that Percepto boasted, "Documents à l'appui", of placing ready-made articles in major media, citing the Valeurs Actuelles piece.[3] France Inter reported that a site, Burkinews, was created to relay Percepto's messages and that a fictitious French investigative journalist, "Anita Pettit", was attributed to it.[10][11] France 24 noted that Percepto had not yet been incorporated at the time of the 2020 campaign; RFI gives its creation as March 2021, and the company register gives 2 March 2021.[12][7][5]
Washington Post report
The Washington Post reported in October 2023 that Percepto was hired in 2021 to help keep President Kaboré in power, built fake personas, infiltrated pro-Russian online groups and warned of a coup; Kaboré was overthrown in January 2022.[4]
Links to the "Great Replacement" advertising report (2026)
In October 2026 Marc Owen Jones and Sohan Dsouza published Manufacturing the "Great Replacement", a study of a multi-year anti-Muslim and anti-Qatar advertising campaign. In a section on leads it did not resolve, the report notes that Chorev is Percepto's co-founder and chairman, that he founded the company with Burstien, and that Chorev was among those named as recruited for an anti-Qatar initiative of October 2023 that was later halted. It states that Percepto, Chorev and Burstien had not been approached for comment, and does not attribute the campaign to them.[13]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Percepto International, About us, perceptointernational.com, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Forbidden Stories, The "masters of perception," Burkina Faso and the International Committee of the Red Cross: anatomy of a manipulation campaign, Forbidden Stories, February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Assemblée nationale, Compte rendu n° 15, Commission d'enquête relative aux ingérences politiques, économiques et financières de puissances étrangères, 14 March 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Elizabeth Dwoskin, How Israel's Percepto fought Russian disinformation in French-speaking Africa, Washington Post, 21 October 2023 (archived here), accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Taagidim (from the Israeli Registrar of Companies open data), ל.ר. פרספשן אינטרנשיונל בע"מ – ח.פ 516353521, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ Taagidim (from the Israeli Registrar of Companies open data), ל. חורב השקעות בע"מ – ח.פ 513874438, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 RFI, Au Burkina Faso, comment le CICR aurait été la cible d'une campagne de manipulation, RFI, 16 February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ Gur Megiddo and Omer Benjakob, Antisemitic Influencers, Fake Journalists: Inside an Israeli Factory for Online Deception, Haaretz, 16 February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ TheMarker, מפעל הרפש מרמת גן: חברת מבצעי התודעה של ליאור חורב ורועי בורשטיין נחשפת, 16 February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ France Inter, "Story Killers": quand "Valeurs Actuelles" est utilisé par une société de désinformation israélienne, Radio France, February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ franceinfo, Enquête "Story Killers": Percepto, l'autre champion de la désinformation, a ciblé "Valeurs actuelles", franceinfo, February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ France 24, Israeli firm sought to discredit the Red Cross in Burkina Faso, report reveals, France 24, 16 February 2023, accessed 30 October 2026.
- ↑ Marc Owen Jones and Sohan Dsouza, Manufacturing the "Great Replacement": the full report, Dysinfluence, 29 October 2026, accessed 30 October 2026.