More than two years after psychologist Yuval Carmi was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 39 months in prison, the affair is still very much on the public agenda. Shomrim can reveal that Kim Ariel Arad, one of the patients Carmi sexually assaulted, has recently called on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to investigate the State Prosecution’s handling of the case.

Efrat Nahmani-Bar and Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, the attorneys representing Arad, argue that the prosecution failed to share with them a dramatic professional opinion written by Dr. Anat Gur, an expert in complex post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative disorders, which supported the demand to charge Carmi with rape, rather than the lesser charge that was reached as part of a plea bargain. Carmi is also expected to appear before the parole board in the coming weeks and could be released after serving 27 months of his sentence.

Gur’s professional opinion was requested by the Jerusalem office of the State Prosecution while it was examining the findings of the police investigation and before a decision was made on what Carmi would be charged with. Shomrim has obtained a copy of this document and can reveal exclusively that its contents raise serious questions about the decision not to charge Carmi with rape – a crime that carried a punishment of up to 16 years behind bars – and only to charge him with the lesser crime of sexual misconduct, for which the punishment is up to four years’ incarceration.

"It is far more likely that this is a case of the cynical and cruel abuse of a dissociative patient – precisely because he knew that the patient was not able to defend herself in specific triggering situations – than the possibility that it was done out of ignorance or that the therapist misread the situation.”

Carmi’s ‘problematic’ practices

A brief recap of the background to the case: In 2021, Kim Ariel Arad, who was 20 at the time, filed a police complaint alleging that Carmi, who had been treating her since she was 16, sexually assaulted her on two occasions. Arad sought treatment from Carmi, a Jerusalem-based clinical psychologist, as a result of sexual assault she had suffered as a child and her subsequent complex post-traumatic stress disorder, one of the manifestations of which was dissociative identity disorder. Arad told police investigators that Carmi cynically and calculatedly took advantage of her moments of disconnect and that he in fact negated her autonomy, her free will, and her ability to refuse. In a courageous move, Arad also decided to waive her right to anonymity and gave a television interview to Adva Dadon from Channel 12 News, in which she spoke openly and candidly about her experience.

The investigative materials obtained by Shomrim suggest that Carmi’s allegedly professional treatment included some highly problematic practices, such as conducting therapy sessions in the presence of other patients and sometimes also other therapists, crossing the boundary between psychotherapy and spiritual therapy (which included physical contact), reincarnation and role-playing situations of attacker versus victim at the “constellation workshops” Carmi held for dozens of his patients.

“I have been his patient for the last four years,” Arad said during a confrontation that the police arranged between Carmi and his accuser. “He knew exactly what sends me into a dissociative state. My responses and my ability to react were at a minimum. He had seen me in that state in the past and knew what was happening.” In his defense, Carmi argued that he had no way of knowing this: “I know that I did something unethical, even though there was total consent.”

Arad: “There is no such thing as ‘total consent’ in treatment. You’re a prevent. You’re sick.”

Carmi: “That is what I experienced. She unequivocally told me that she wanted to have sex with me. To be one with me.”

Arad: “That’s a lie. I never said that to him. You’re a liar and that’s not true.”

During his police interrogations, Carmi admitted to having sexual relations with Arad, but argued that it was consensual. “It was the start of an idiotic affair,” the then-66-year-old psychologist said. At first, he was questioned on suspicion of indecent assault and sexual assault while taking advantage of his victim’s inability to consent to sexual relations. He was quizzed three times by police and each time he became embroiled in lies and changed his version of events more than once. During questioning, investigators presented him with testimony from additional patients – a total of seven – who accused him of flagrantly crossing boundaries, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. In one case, he was read the transcript of a recording in which he apologized to one of his patients and offered to pay her financial compensation.

Officials from the Jerusalem District of the State Prosecution were divided over what charges should be brought against Carmi. Some wanted to charge him with rape, while other said that it would be hard to produce evidence to prove this.To help resolve this disagreement, the prosecution enlisted Gur, an expert psychologist specializing in trauma and dissociative conditions, to prepare a report. Gur spoke with Arad, examined the correspondence between her and Carmi, listened to recordings of their conversations and, in her report, wrote that: “Based on the investigation material and conversations with Kim, it is evident that boundaries were crossed from the start of the treatment, such as: Yuval introducing her to another of his patients, someone who was a sexual abuser; inviting her into another patient’s therapy session; turning her into his ‘assistant’; the connection with his daughter and comments along the lines of Kim being ‘like her big sister’; taking advantage of Kim in administrative work; sharing with her and other patients details of the sexual problems he was experiencing with his wife and recruiting patients to help resolve these problems. To put it very mildly, none of these are considered appropriate in any kind of emotional therapy – and especially not with people suffering from trauma – since complex trauma is based on a violation of trust and abuse.”

Gur, who examined hundreds of pages of correspondence between Carmi and Arad on WhatsApp and Telegram, concluded with the following chilling assertion: “There is good reason to be concerned that this crossing of boundaries laid the groundwork over the course of many years and paved the way for the sexual assault. Throughout the entire treatment, Kim says that she believed she was special, that he had chosen her and that he wanted her. Since she had experienced those crossed boundaries in the past and she was confused between love and abuse, she was susceptible to repeat abuse.”

"From reading about his events unfold, there is a very serious suspicion that Yuval not only was aware of this, that Kim was in a dissociative state which did not allow her to resist, but that he knew she was also likely to be in a mode of automatically obeying all of his requests."

The report that was never handed over

Gur was presented with a series of questions by the prosecution, which Shomrim has obtained and is publishing here for the first time, designed to examine the issue of Arad’s dissociative episodes and Carmi’s ability, as a clinical psychologist, to observe them. This, as mentioned above, was the crux of the legal disagreement over Arad’s consent. Gur’s response to these questions was even more unequivocal.

Question: Given Kim’s description of events, is it possible to determine that she experienced a dissociative state during these incidents?

“Absolutely yes. Kim describes dissociative mechanisms that exactly match the descriptions in professional literature and my clinical experience. After listening to the testimony of hundreds of people who have been sexually abused, I can testify that this is exactly how they describe these dissociative mechanisms.”

Question: Could Yuval Carmi have known that Kim was in a dissociative state in the above mentioned situation?

“There is no doubt that Yuval is well aware of Kim’s dissociative states and even worked with her on typical therapeutic techniques, which appear in the professional literature (…) From reading about his events unfold, there is a very serious suspicion that Yuval not only was aware of this, that Kim was in a dissociative state which did not allow her to resist, but that he knew she was also likely to be in a mode of automatically obeying all of his requests. Even worse, he knowingly used triggers that he knew for certain would cause Kim to enter a dissociative state in order to ensure her blind compliance.

“Moreover, it is possible that he knowingly opted to exactly recreate the elements of the original trauma, the details of which Kim shared with him time and time again during the years of treatment (…) It is far more likely that this is a case of the cynical and cruel abuse of a dissociative patient – precisely because he knew that the patient was not able to defend herself in specific triggering situations – than the possibility that it was done out of ignorance or that the therapist misread the situation.”

Doubt began to emerge within the State Prosecution with regard to some of Arad’s statements – oral and written – after the assault, in which she said that she was "on cloud nine" and would like to continue her sexual relationship with Carmi. Gur told officials about scientific research into the dissociative disorder from which Arad suffers. “Dissociative states create an alternate reality of self-persuasion, in which the victim hides even from herself – and especially others – the significance of the abuse. Sometimes, the initial reaction is ‘I wanted it’ or ‘I played along,’ as a defensive/dissociative act to shield yourself from the shame and blame – and because of the massive difficulty in accepting that you have been abused and hurt again, and once again failed to protect yourself. These defenses grow stronger when it comes to a beloved figure, someone significant; it is hard to contain the integration of love, esteem, and dependence that a woman feels toward this person with the fact that he abused me, sexually assaulted me, or raped me.”

In fact, Gur’s professional opinion was scientific validation of the legal arguments put forward by Nahmani-Bar and Zagagi-Pinhas, the attorneys who represented Arad while the State Prosecution was still deciding what charges to bring against Carmi. However, the opinion was never handed over to the lawyers, despite their repeated requests, and the state simply decided to ignore it. The prevalent opinion among officials from the Jerusalem officer of the State Prosecutor was that Gur’s report was biased and extreme, and that, notwithstanding her exalted position in her profession, her unequivocal determinations cast doubt on the entire opinion.

A few days ago, Nahmani-Bar and Zagagi-Pinhas sent a letter to the attorney general, in which they argued that the unequivocal opinion proves that Arad “was not in a condition that would enable her to give her consent to sexual acts and certainly not her free consent. The opinion was withheld from her legal representatives in a most unbecoming manner and the lawyers were also misled with regard to its significance and content.”

The two lawyers claim that they met with officials from the Jerusalem prosecutor’s office and informed them that they planned to petition the High Court of Justice over the charge that was eventually brought against Carmi and that they are entitled to receive a copy of this professional opinion in accordance with the law on patients’ rights. The prosecution countered that the opinion was written as part of the investigation for legal evidence and not for therapeutic or medical reasons and that is it therefore defined as investigative material which cannot be shared once the legal process has started.

“During our meetings with prosecutors, we raised the fact that the professional opinion written by Dr. Gur had never been presented to us,” the lawyers wrote in their letter to the attorney general. “In response, during a verbal discussion, we were told that Dr. Gur’s opinion did not support Kim’s claims and that the opposite was true: according to what we were told, the opinion suggested that there were no dissociative episodes (in contradiction of Kim’s testimony). Now, after the case has been closed, we have become aware that this was a misrepresentation and was simply not true.”

Arad’s lawyers go on to argue that this alleged “misrepresentation” by the prosecution effectively prevented them from petitioning the High Court of Justice in an effort to have more serious charges brought against Carmi. “Given the assumption that the professional opinion did not support Kim’s claims and that any petition would therefore have little chance of success, the victim decided to waive her right. The false representation that was presented to us was the main reason for the decision not to roll the complex issue to the gates of the High Court and to demand that it evaluate the prosecution’s decision.”

"The prosecution’s conduct in this case is not just problematic from an ethical perspective, it is additional harm in the context of the victims; it is a misuse of the prosecution's power to withhold information.”

Appeal to the Attorney General: Why a Misleading Representation Was Presented

Carmi, who was represented by attorney Tami Ullman, pleaded guilty from the outset, sparing the victims (in addition to Arad, another patient was cited in the indictment) the additional emotional harm of having to testify in open court. However, the expedited procedure also prevented a public examination of professional norms by the Psychological Guild, as indicated by the investigative materials obtained by Shomrim. Testimony collated by the police during their investigation shows that other psychologists, colleagues of Carmi, reported that he had crossed boundaries and was guilty of sexual harassment – none of which ever led to action being taken against him.

Gur’s professional opinion, in the meantime, was only given to Arad and her legal representatives after Carmi was sentenced in August 2022. “Looking over the detailed and comprehensive report by the expert shocked us all,” Nahmani-Bar and Zagagi-Pinhas wrote. “Not only do the entire contents of the opinion exactly support our arguments for indicting the defendant on more serious charges, as well as explicitly and clearly supporting the allegations made by Kim, they also stand in complete contradiction to the version that was described to us in real-time in terms of the content and significance of the opinion. The prosecution’s conduct in this case is not just problematic from an ethical perspective, it is additional harm in the context of the victims; it is a misuse of the prosecution's power to withhold information.”

In their letter to the attorney general, Arad and her attorneys asked that she order an investigation into the conduct of the prosecution “in order to establish why the opinion was withheld and why it was misrepresented. Beyond this, it appears to us that it is high time to set clear criteria when it comes to sharing therapists’ professional opinions and other investigative material that has evidentiary value to attorneys representing people who have been abused so that we can verify their claims vis-à-vis the indictment.”