Israeli Woman Details Harrowing Ordeal After IDF Document Leak in Turkey
Translated & summarized from Behadrei Haredim by baba
An Israeli woman with Turkish citizenship, Jessica Bachar, has detailed her detention in Turkey following the leak of an IDF document. After being targeted online and detained, she was released due to diplomatic intervention but had to flee the country within 48 hours, and is now unable to return.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Israeli citizen Jessica Bachar was detained in Turkey after a leaked IDF document named her.
- She faced online harassment and protests labeling her a "child killer."
- Diplomatic intervention secured her release from detention.
- Bachar had to flee Turkey within 48 hours and cannot currently return.
- She was born in Turkey but moved to Israel due to anti-Semitic harassment.
Eight months after being detained in Istanbul and subsequently released in a swift rescue operation, Jessica Bachar, an Israeli citizen holding a Turkish passport, has revealed the sequence of events for the first time. Bachar, who visited her family in Turkey last February, found herself targeted after her name appeared in a leaked Israeli military document. Born and raised in Turkey until age 17, she moved to Israel due to online harassment related to her Jewish identity. She served in the IDF, studied, and met her future husband, Eyal, in Israel.
During her recent visit, an official document listing 112 IDF soldiers with Turkish passports was leaked. Despite having been discharged from the IDF six years prior to a Turkish law prohibiting service in foreign militaries, Bachar's photos circulated online under the label "child killer." Her address was published, and protests were held against her. Following the incitement, Bachar contacted the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which advised her to leave the country immediately.
At the airport, Bachar was detained by four men and taken for interrogation. "They took my phone and computer, showed me pictures and asked if it was me. I explained I hadn't been in the army for six years, but one of them told me I was here because of genocide," she recounted. While she was taken to a police station for hours of detention, her future husband Eyal worked from Israel with senior officials, including Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who was in Washington at the time.
The diplomatic intervention led to Bachar's release to house arrest. However, fake videos depicting her in IDF uniform on Turkish soil began circulating. This prompted a directive from the Foreign Ministry: a critical 48-hour window existed to exit Turkey. Bachar quickly bid farewell to her family, took a taxi to the airport, and fabricated a story to border control officers about losing track of time in duty-free, missing her original flight. The ruse succeeded, and she was allowed to board her plane. Nine hours after her escape from Istanbul, Bachar landed in Israel. She is now barred from returning to Turkey and it remains unclear when she will be able to see her family again.
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