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Our Team

Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor

Executive Director & Founder

Tal-Or has a diverse background in academic research, hi-tech law and public policy. She is an expert in digital social platforms, hate speech and extremism. As a leader of major open-source research projects, her work focuses on online antisemitism, digital hate speech policy and hate crimes. Tal-Or was admitted into the Israeli Bar Association in 2019.

Zohar Gorgel

Founding Board Member

A decorated IDF intelligence officer with over a decade of experience in various cyber and technology roles, Zohar spearheaded the effort against incitement to terror on social media platforms during the 2015-2016 wave of terrorism in Israel. Today, Zohar is a social and tech entrepreneur running a FinTech startup.

Lara Portnoy

Program & Ops Manager

A seasoned organizational development and resource professional with a decade of experience in the non-profit sector, Lara is committed to helping efforts with meaningful missions thrive. She is also a book-worm, wordsmith, master story-teller and loves all things involving exceptional writing. Lara holds two MAs in Middle East Studies and in Politics of Conflict.

Vered Andre'ev

Head of Research

Vered is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Haifa, where she is completing an MA. She is an interdisciplinary specialist in Arabic Linguistics, Middle Eastern and Asian Studies, which she recently applied in an international research project with an emphasis on database management. Vered has an extensive background in open-source intelligence from her accomplished military service.

Rachel Brynien

Partnerships & Growth Lead

Originally from Philadelphia, Rachel earned her BA in International Relations and Sociology from the University of Maryland as well as an MA in Conflict Resolution and Mediation from Tel Aviv University. She has previous experience in diplomacy and foreign policy, with a focus on US-Israel relations. With her love of sports, Rachel has worked on numerous projects specializing in sports diplomacy. She is an enthusiastic changemaker who hopes to aid in the success of nonprofits making an impact in the world.

Yonathan Hezroni

Digital Policy & Compliance Analyst

Yonathan holds an MA in Government, summa cum laude, and an LL.B with distinction in Law from Reichman University. Yonathan was admitted into the Israeli Bar Association in 2022. As a former analyst and analyst team leader in the Research Department of the IDF Military Intelligence, Yonathan has extensive experience in intelligence analysis.

Advisors

Profesor

Dina Porat

Advisor

Professor Porat serves as the Chief Historian of Yad Vashem. She was an original advisory scholar consulted on the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. Recently, Porat completed her decade-long tenure as the Head of the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. An award-winning author and world-renowned expert in antisemitism, she has received numerous accolades including recognition in Forbes’ list of the 50 leading women in Israel.

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Lt. Col. (Res.)

Peter Lerner

Advisor

A former IDF Spokesperson with more than 25 years of experience as an expert in regional affairs, media issues and Israel’s national security. Today, Lerner is continuing his professional path as Director General of the International Relations Division at the “Histadrut”, the General Organization of Workers in Israel.

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Professor

Gunther Jikeli

Advisor

Professor Jikeli holds the Erna B. Rosenfeld Professorship at the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism (ISCA) at Indiana University. A recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Prize in Human Rights and Holocaust Studies, his academic work on offline forms of contemporary antisemitism was recognized by The Algemeiner as one of
“The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life.”

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Maj. Gen.

(Ret.) Amos Yadlin

Advisor

With over 40 years of service in the IDF, Yadlin served as the former Chief of the IDF’s Military Intelligence. Prior to that, he served as Defense Attaché to the United States. Recently, Amos completed his position as the Director of the Institute for National Security Studies
(INSS) at Tel Aviv University.

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Our Story

CyberWell’s story is also the story of its founder, Tal-Or Cohen. Born in America, she moved to Israel as a teen where she volunteered to serve in the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier. She then became a high-tech corporate attorney before pivoting into open-source and business intelligence, leading research projects on extremist movements in the United States.

It was in that capacity that she began to truly understand the awful prevalence of online antisemitism. After she shared her disgust with her then-manager and IDF intelligence veteran, Zohar Gorgel, he suggested that
Tal-Or use her open-source expertise and deep understanding of social media to fight that hatred. Encouraged by colleagues and mentors, she founded CyberWell.

CyberWell’s dynamic team now includes academics, retired generals, intelligence alumni and innovative tech professionals–all working to apply their expertise toward driving enforcement and improvement of community standards and hate speech policies across the digital landscape to fight against online antisemitism and empower like-minded efforts with the data they collect.

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