A soldier arrived for a session with a psychologist — and fell victim to political preaching

For long months, M. (23), a reserve soldier in an elite unit, fought in the heart of the Gaza Strip. He went through difficult battles against terrorists, lost his two close commanders, and saw comrades-in-arms wounded beside him. When he returned home, the sights and sounds from the field refused to leave him.

Like thousands of other soldiers since October 7, M. demonstrated personal responsibility and courage — he did exactly what everyone is asking soldiers to do today: not to remain alone with what they have been through and to seek psychological help.

Following a recommendation he received, M. arrived at a clinic on Moriah Boulevard in Haifa for a meeting with psychologist and therapist Uri Levy. M. expected to find a safe, discreet, and protected place that would allow him to set down the heavy weights from the fighting. However, according to him, the meeting very quickly turned into a difficult and turbulent situation. Instead of supportive and professional emotional therapy, M. discovered that the meeting was being used for political preaching and topics that are light-years away from the accepted protocol in a therapy room.

M. noticed that something in the conduct of the meeting was clearly not right and decided not to remain silent and to confront the therapist during the conversation. When he asked him why he was doing this within a therapy that is supposed to focus on complex post-trauma, the therapist answered him: "I couldn't resist."

Distressed and hurt, M. left the meeting and informed Levy in a sharp text message that he did not intend to return to him again.

However, for the discharged soldier, waiving the payment could not repair the damage. The basic trust that is supposed to exist between a patient and a therapist was broken.

The case of M. is not unique. Following the exposure of the affair, additional testimonies began to arrive from patients who studied under or were treated by Uri Levy. The testimonies raise difficult and complex ethical questions about the way meetings are conducted in the clinic, the exploitation of the therapist's status, and the mixing of political and personal content in a place where the patient is in their most vulnerable state.

The connecting thread between all the callers who reached out following the case was the deep fear of being exposed. Many of them expressed fear that the therapist might make improper or vengeful use of the sensitive and personal information they revealed to him in the therapy room.

We reached out to psychologist Uri Levy to receive his full response to the claims and to offer him to be interviewed for the article. In response to our inquiry, he chose to reply with a short text: "I have no idea who you are. What you are talking about. And how you reached me. I view your inquiry as harassment."

For the thousands of soldiers returning from bloody battles, the very step of seeking help requires great mental strength and courage. Precisely because of this, the therapy room must remain a protected, professional, agenda-free, and sterile space — one that heals the wounds of war and does not add new wounds to them.

Ministry of Health response: "No complaints on the subject have been received by the complaints committee. As soon as an official complaint is received from patients, it will be examined in depth and with full seriousness. Alongside this, the ministry will examine, as necessary, the details raised in the article, as a detailed inquiry from the patients will assist in clarifying the cases. Naturally, it is not possible to comment on the substance of the specific cases mentioned before a comprehensive inquiry is conducted and the positions of all involved parties are heard."