Revealed: This is the Israeli who was rescued in a secret operation from Turkey

Today we are announcing for the first time that this is Jessica Bakr, a 28-year-old resident of the center of the country, who was born in Istanbul and immigrated to Israel alone at the age of 17. The affair began in mid-February when Islamist organizations launched a campaign on social media calling for Bakr’s arrest due to her service in the IDF a few years ago, while publishing documentation and photos of her on uniform. This is a move that took place as part of a campaign in Turkey designed to expose Israelis who With dual citizenship and served in the IDF, after the army revealed the numbers.

The same organizations published Becher’s personal details, including her parents’ residential address, and even submitted an official request to the Turkish authorities demanding that she leave the country. About two weeks later, the Turkish authorities arrested her on suspicion of the crime of “serving in a foreign army”. After Israeli officials learned of her arrest, the foreign minister applied heavy pressure, including American intervention, and in the end she was released in a secret operation to Israel.

After joining the IDF, she studied at Bar-Ilan University and then over the years built an impressive career as a communications consultant and manager of international brands. Already during her studies at Bar-Ilan, she managed projects for global brands and advised leading companies, including advising an executive at Amazon.

While she was studying in Israel, a large earthquake struck Turkey and fortunately her parents’ house was not damaged, but the event had many emotional consequences for them. The university was proud of and published a past project of Bacher’s on which she worked together with a Turkish student and within the framework of which the two set up an application for disaster relief. She designed the brand herself and worked to make the idea born in the wake of the disaster a reality. It was announced in Turkey that Becher was chosen as the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Gold Moon Awards, and also appeared on the cover of She & Girls magazine in 2024, a popular lifestyle and fashion magazine published in Turkey.