Two months ago, a female IDF soldier visiting her parents in Turkey was arrested by Turkish authorities. She was spirited out of the country in an under-the-radar mission by Israel on Feb. 18. Few details about the mission or the young woman were given at the time. Her name was made public on Wednesday.
Jessica Bachar, 28, was born in Istanbul and immigrated to Israel alone at the age of 17.
While visiting her parents in Turkey, Bachar was arrested by Turkish authorities following calls by Islamic groups in Ankara to imprison her. They published online a picture of her in an Israeli army uniform and details about her parents, including their address, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.
Bachar was held in jail for several hours and then remanded to house arrest for several days, according to reports at the time. The offense was serving in a foreign army. Pressure from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and the United States were key to winning her release.
When she initially came to Israel, Bachar stayed at Kibbutz Na’an, according to a feature story by Bar-Ilan University in July 2025 highlighting Bachar’s early professional success.
She fell in love with Israel and decided to stay, enlisting in the IDF in 2018 and serving for two years before studying at Bar-Ilan (2020-2024) where she majored in political science and communications. She then completed a masters in Human-Computer Interaction at Reichman University.
Bachar has shown great promise as an entrepreneur. According to Bar-Ilan University, Bachar initiated projects already in the army, where she built a new unit to support immigrants. “She coordinated with embassies, led operations, and even designed the unit’s logo—an experience that earned her an official commendation and sparked her first taste of leadership,” the school reported.
While studying at Bar-Ilan, she managed projects for global brands, led product operations at a tech company, and consulted for firms such as Amazon.
When a series of powerful earthquakes hit Turkey in Feb. 2023, Bachar created GraceAID, an app for disaster relief. She worked together with a Turkish student to bring it to fruition.
In 2024, Bachar was named “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Gold Moon Awards, a Turkish organization that honors individuals and brands in business. That same year, she appeared on the cover of She & Girls, a popular Turkish lifestyle magazine.
