Ex-IDF soldier detained in Turkey released after U.S. intervention

Anti-Israel groups called for her arrest, citing ban on foreign military service.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A former IDF soldier who was detained in Turkey last week on suspicion of “service in a foreign military” was released only after U.S. diplomatic intervention.

The woman, a dual citizen, had traveled to visit her parents in Istanbul when anti-Israel groups publicized her presence online and called for her arrest, describing her as a “Zionist soldier.”

Turkish law prohibits citizens from serving in foreign armed forces without special authorization.

She was initially held for several hours at a detention center before being placed under house arrest.

Channel 14 reported that Turkish authorities opened an investigation that would examine the case under statutes related to genocide and crimes against humanity.

Israeli officials were notified, and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar became involved. However, diplomatic ties between Jerusalem and Ankara have deteriorated sharply since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, limiting direct channels.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly accused the IDF of committing genocide, and he supported Hamas as a legitimate “resistance organization,” ignoring the documented war crimes the terror group committed during its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of Israel that sparked the war.

Direct trade relations between Israel and Turkey were severed in 2024, although goods continue to reach Israel indirectly.

Jerusalem requested the assistance of the United States, and following American pressure, the woman was released. She returned to Israel last Wednesday via a third country, accompanied by Israeli representatives.

The Israeli army recently disclosed that 50,632 of its soldiers hold dual citizenship.

The incident appears to be part of a broader campaign begun by anti-Israel activists in Turkey to identify visiting Israelis with military backgrounds.

On Monday, in a fifth such report on Instagram, activists announced the “exposure” of an Israeli visiting Istanbul, identifying him by name and revealing that he had been discharged from the “Zionist Israeli army” in 2018.

They demanded his arrest for both his IDF service and the fact that he is currently an active member of the Israeli police force, which they charged with torture, beatings, unlawful arrests and “systematic oppression of Palestinians in the Palestinian territories” since 1948, the year of Israel’s establishment.

The post included photos of the Israeli taken from social media, both in uniform and in civilian dress.

There is no immediate indication that Turkish authorities have taken action in that case.