Prosecutors close case against trainer accused of rape by ex-hostage Mia Schem

Investigation wrapped up without charges for prominent personal trainer due to lack of witnesses, source says; Schem’s lawyer says she may file an appeal

By ToI Staff 4 February 2026, 5:15 pm

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Former hostage Mia Schem attends a press conference ahead of a concert in memory of the victims murdered at the Nova festival by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, in Tel Aviv, March 11, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Prosecutors on Wednesday said they would not file charges against a famous personal trainer from Tel Aviv who was accused of rape by Mia Schem, who survived 54 days of Hamas captivity.

Tel Aviv District prosecutors closed the case against the trainer, in his 30s, whose name is barred from publication, due to a “lack of witnesses” and not due to a lack of confidence in Schem,” a source with knowledge of the details told the Walla news site.

Schem revealed herself to be the plaintiff in the case in May last year. The suspect was arrested in late March during a raid of his home. He was subsequently released from police custody.

The trainer has been widely reported to be a prominent figure on social media with several celebrity clients, including a former prime minister.

In March, the Channel 12 news reported that police were probing whether the trainer had used a date-rape drug. Schem’s friends allegedly found her at her home after she had spent time socially with the trainer and another person, with only a hazy memory of what had taken place.

Schem’s lawyer, Efrat Nahmany-Bar, said that her client did “everything a victim was supposed to do” by submitting a complaint to the police, despite the difficulties of facing the authorities over such an allegation.

Mia Schem (C, in gray jacket) with her family at Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, after being released from Hamas captivity, December 1, 2023. (Courtesy)

“Unfortunately, not only did the police fail in their duty and fail to find out what happened, but they also leaked her name, thereby violating the law and severely violating her privacy. The difficult questions about the suspect’s problematic version, the lies that were exposed — all of these remain hanging over the affair. We will examine the materials when they reach us and will consider filing an appeal,” the lawyer said.

The trainer’s lawyer, Shoshi Gaz, said “from the first moment that the personal trainer was arrested as a rape suspect, he said ‘it never happened,'” according to a statement carried by Hebrew media outlets.

“He was released after several days of detention without restrictions and returned to work at his gym,” the lawyer stated.

Schem was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre and then released during a November 2023 hostage-truce deal.