A Turkish-Israeli dual national held for her service in the Israeli army was released from imprisonment in Turkey due to interventions made by Israeli and American officials, according to news reported by Israeli media.
The woman, Jessica Bachar, aged 28, was reportedly arrested by Turkish authorities after pro-Palestinian activist groups circulated her photos wearing an Israeli army uniform along with her parents’ contact information. She was first held in jail for some hours and subsequently put under house arrest for a few days.
Foreign Minister of Israel, Gideon Sa’ar, requested her release, even appealing to the United States for help. Bachar flew out from Istanbul Airport to Israel on February 18. She is no longer allowed to return to Turkey.
Bachar is originally from Istanbul but moved to Israel alone at the age of 17. She served in the Israel Defense Forces for two years before graduating from Bar-Ilan University with degrees in political science and communications studies. She later graduated with an MA in Human-Computer Interaction from Reichman University.
Her detention came after the Freedom Watch Platform tried to find Turkish nationals enlisted in the Israeli military services and demanded her arrest using Article 320 of the Turkish Penal Code, which states that serving in a foreign army without government permission is punishable by one to three years of imprisonment.
The data acquired through a FOIA request submitted to Declassified UK reveals that there are currently 112 Israeli-Turkish citizens serving in the Israeli armed forces.
Relations between the two countries have remained tense since 2010 after Israeli forces attacked a ship sent by Turkey to deliver aid to Gaza, resulting in the death of 10 people on board. The relations became even worse after Hamas’ attacks in Israel in early October 2023 and the Israeli army’s subsequent military operation in Gaza.
Even after joining the Israeli military, Bachar stayed connected with Turkey. After a series of massive earthquakes hit Turkey in February 2023, she designed GraceAID, an application meant to assist victims of such disasters. For her work on the project in collaboration with a Turkish student, she received the title of Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2024 from the Turkish organization Gold Moon Awards and was featured on the cover of the Turkish lifestyle magazine She & Girls.
