Katya Sukhova's Testimony (katia.soukhova@gmail.com): Sexual Exploitation in Bnei Baruch
Bnei Baruch Investigation · Entry point · Part 1 of 4
Katya Sukhova signed her testimony about sexual abuse by Michael Laitman under her own name. Her email katia.soukhova@gmail.com and phone +33652447883 are publicly available; her activity in her public Google Maps profile is easily traceable. Israeli police never reached out to her.
2011. France. The Douiev Coordinators
Katya’s path into the group began in 2011 in France through Bnei Baruch’s media channels. Distance courses and online broadcasts carried the central doctrine: connection with the Creator was impossible without complete submission to the leader. Critical thought was treated as spiritual decline.
The coordinators of the European network, husband and wife — Jacques Douiev and Noam Douiev — drew Katya into constant service work: translating books, filling websites, handling daily logistics. The more unpaid hours she gave, the more dependent she became on the organization. The broader route into that dependency is covered in the article on the path inside the system; in Katya’s case it ran through the French group, translation work, and personal access to the leader.
The 2014 Congress. Mineral Water and Special Status
In 2014, at a congress in Israel, Katya found herself next to Laitman. By then she had absorbed statements such as: “I am the only one who will lead you to the Creator.”
During a visit to his apartment in Petah Tikva, Laitman called her out of the crowd for a group photograph. Afterward, she was appointed as a temporary personal assistant at the next European congress. Her duties included direct service: purchasing a special mineral water, pouring tea, on-site logistics. Physical access and routine assignments taught her to understand closeness to the leader as exceptional status, and to stay ready for what he asked.
On the photo, Laitman is looking at Katya’s chest while she holds her friend’s hand in support. This is exactly what Katya described in her lawsuit—she told her friend about it, but the friend didn’t believe it was even possible.
Arye Makarevich Explains the Rules
During the European congress, after an evening lecture, Laitman invited her to his room. She did not come. The following morning, when she tried to approach him and hand him coffee, Laitman reacted aggressively. The instruction to “not let her near him anymore” spread instantly through the inner circle.
Then the entourage stepped in. Bodyguard and assistant Arye Makarevich calmly explained to her that the married leader “had the right” to such a choice. He added that Laitman had specifically chosen her from a photograph and that he preferred blondes. Inside the inner circle, the episode was treated as normal: assistants removed barriers and framed the leader’s demand as acceptable. Katya found herself trapped: refusal meant losing the only connection to the Creator.
Mona describes a related role played by intermediaries in a different biography. Katya’s chronology remains narrower: refusal, immediate loss of access, and then an assistant explaining that the leader’s choice had to be accepted as a spiritual norm.
In the photo from Laitman’s circle is Arie Makarevich—his bodyguard and assistant, who rented him an expensive room with a huge bed during the congress “for spiritual rituals” 🙂
Petah Tikva. Night Calls. Fever
The final stage unfolded at the headquarters in Petah Tikva. Laitman intensified the pressure through a series of video calls and invitations to Israel, moving between intense attention and complete silence.
According to Katya, night summons to the apartment in Petah Tikva ended in sexual contact. When she tried to invoke religious prohibitions, Laitman overrode her with his authority. She says she did not resist because she feared permanently losing her connection to the Creator.
The following day she refused to continue. Laitman immediately expelled her. All her access was revoked at once. By evening she developed a severe fever, packed her belongings, and left the headquarters in panic.
Aftermath. Threats. Silence
Upon returning home, a group representative she had turned to for help advised her not to focus on what had happened and simply to “continue studying,” treating the contact as a spiritual obstacle. Later, Laitman attempted to bring her back through correspondence, suggesting they “move on” as though nothing had occurred. The response offered a continuation of her studies rather than protection.
The break came only after Katya found criticism of the movement on Facebook (the person is identified as M.). For the first time she received an external, non-indoctrinated perspective that showed her a spiritual path separate from Laitman.
When Katya prepared to bring her story into the public domain (in the course of working with journalist Raviv Drucker), the information was leaked to the group. Threats were directed at Katya and her family. Fearing for her safety, she was forced to request that the case not be brought to Israeli court.
After that, the question was no longer only Katya’s relationship to the group; it was whether anyone outside the group would review the complaint. How complaints and testimony failed to become a full investigation is covered in the separate investigation into silenced testimonies. Mona’s testimony gives a neighboring but different scale: sixteen years of dependency and pressure after leaving the group.
The procedural result remained the same: Israeli police never reached out to her.