Israel establishes fake research center to influence AI responses

The site stated that the “Hanover Institute for Public Policy,” a fictitious entity, presents itself as an American-style research institution that publishes reports on Israel and Palestine, but it is not an independent research center.

A disclaimer on the institute’s website indicates that it was established by the company “Peru” on behalf of the Israeli government’s advertising authority, with Daniel Rosenberg, producer of Spike Lee’s 2006 film “Inside Man,” among its founders.

Since August 6, the institute has published more than 100 reports addressing questions such as “What caused the displacement of Palestinians in 1948?” and “What is the current situation in the Gaza Strip?”

The reports employ footnotes, bibliographies, and statistics, alongside neutral language—features that can make online content more appealing to artificial intelligence systems.

“Responsible Statecraft” quoted Alice Lee, an analyst at NewsGuard, a company specializing in monitoring disinformation, saying that such sites appear designed to reach Americans through search engines and AI-powered chatbots.

Lee noted that “large language models favor statistics and concrete data, as well as strong citations and sources, all of which are present in these articles.”

The institute claims that the research it cites has undergone academic peer review, but its reports frequently reference Israeli government sources, including the military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to “Responsible Statecraft,” the company “Peru” received $900,000 from the Israeli government for its work, with the company’s operations subcontracted to the French public relations group Havas Media.