A pattern across the decades: a Bnei Baruch timeline, 2012–2025
Where you are in the dossier: Documents and appendices Source document
The timeline lays out, year by year, what the dossier already documents, so the continuity comes into view rather than a single isolated episode. The colour and label on each entry mark its evidence level (document, testimony, suspicion or editorial conclusion), exactly as set out on the methodology page.
The events, year by year
- 2012
In December, Aharon Appelbaum sent a letter to the Ministry of Education calling "Kabbalah la-Am" a cult. That single letter set the whole later run of lawsuits in motion.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2013
The association filed its first defamation suit — against Appelbaum himself.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2014
The "K." episode: a public account of an attempted sexual assault. Milwidsky flatly denied the accusation.
to the complaints against Milwidsky → - 2015
A suit against the website "The Seventh Eye" and the journalist behind its investigations of the movement.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2016
By David Sakiyan's account, Milwidsky kept his then-wife from submitting an affidavit in which she attributed a sexual assault to Laitman.
to the silenced testimonies → - 2017
After Army Radio (Galatz) and Kan 11 investigated a "closed cult", the suits turned on the broadcasters themselves — Army Radio and the public broadcaster Kan — and on Megiddo as well; in parallel ran a 3 million ₪ claim against the victims' assistance center, Appelbaum, and related defendants.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2018
A November claim of 600,000 ₪ against Megiddo over two tweets from October 2018 — already the third case against him since 2017.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2018–19
On the suspicion under investigation, Milwidsky coached A. ahead of the hearing — to deny any tie to Laitman. In 2019 she was brought to Israel, and in court she did deny it.
to the Olesya / A. story → - 2019
In August the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court dismissed Bnei Baruch's roughly 415,000 ₪ suit against Didi Remez, Guy Bahar and Dalia Aloni — technical and communications figures around the Google ads linked to the assistance center and Appelbaum; the association was ordered to pay 130,000 ₪ in costs.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2021
The public broadcaster pulled two Kan investigations into Bnei Baruch — under a confidential settlement.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2022
The LAHAV 433 investigation opened; Milwidsky took his seat in the Knesset (November); News 12 published A.'s testimony.
to the investigation of the movement's counsel → - 2022
On September 5 Bnei Baruch filed a 2.87 million ₪ defamation suit in Lod District Court against Benjamin "Boka" Rafaeli, Laitman's former security chief, after his News 12 interview; it did not sue A., Omri Maniv, or News 12.
to the Olesya / A. story → - 2023
On March 2 the Bat Yam Magistrate's Court dismissed the suit by Milwidsky and Bnei Baruch against Megiddo: abuse of process, forum shopping, and the marks of a SLAPP.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2024
On January 18 the Tel Aviv District Court rejected the appeal. The tally: four suits had demanded roughly 2 million ₪, Megiddo paid nothing, and Bnei Baruch paid him about 70,000 ₪ in costs — after more than five years of pursuit.
to the movement's legal machine → - 2024
Over the summer a LAHAV 433 delegation took A.'s testimony; the meeting was formally recorded.
to the Olesya / A. story → - 2025
In July, Milwidsky was questioned under warning at LAHAV 433 — on suspicion of rape, inducement to give false testimony, and indecent acts — on the eve of his appointment as chair of the Finance Committee.
to the questioning under warning → - 2025
The reverse side: in November a court found the 2012 letter (the word "cult") to be defamation — 168,000 ₪ in damages and an apology in Israel Hayom. In a legal fight the word "cult" needs an evidentiary footing, not a general impression.
to the legal caveat → - the takeaway
Thirteen years, the same mechanisms again and again: suits against critics, blocked testimony, protection through politics. This is a design, not a coincidence.
how it adds up to a pattern →