Naama Issachar set to return to Israel with PM, who is in Russian capital for talks with Putin on U.S. plan for Mideast peace; Israeli source says president issued pardon for Issachar as ‘way of paying tribute to Netanyahu’
An Israeli-American woman jailed in Russia on drug charges was reunited with her mother in Moscow on Thursday after nine months in a Russian prison, just hours after President Vladimir Putin agreed to her release. The 26-year-old New Jersey-born backpacker was arrested in April at a Moscow airport, where she was transferring en route from India to Israel. She was convicted and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison over the possession of nine grams of cannabis. Officials from the Israeli embassy in Moscow escorted Issachar to the airport, from where she and her mother were expected to return home on the plane of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was meeting with Putin to discuss newly unveiled U.S. peace plan for the Middle East.
ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו ורעייתו פגשו כעת את נעמה יששכר ואמה יפה יששכר בשדה התעופה במוסקבה.
ראש הממשלה נתניהו לנעמה: “מתרגשים לראות אותך. עכשיו חוזרים הביתה”. pic.twitter.com/pIdwdhLQVs
— ראש ממשלת ישראל (@IsraeliPM_heb) January 30, 2020
She said that while she had pictured her daughter’s release many times, she never thought Naama would be returned to Israel by Netanyahu himself.
Putin officially pardoned Issachar on Wednesday, with the Kremlin issuing a presidential decree saying that the decision made on “humanitarian principles” was effective immediately. A source close to the prime minister said the pardon was not part of any kind of deal with the Russian government.
“The pardon is Putin’s way of paying tribute to Netanyahu,” said the source. “The country wanted to solve Naama’s case not only because of the mutual guarantee … but due to a desire to resolve an affair that could have damaged Israel’s sensitive relations with Russia.”
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