Russia frees U.S.-Israeli backpacker, Naama Issachar, ahead of talks between Putin and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow
MOSCOW - Russia freed a U.S.-Israeli woman on Thursday who had been jailed on drugs charges, after President Vladimir Putin granted her a pardon following a high profile lobbying campaign championed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We’re excited to see you. Now we go back home,” he told Issachar, according to a statement from his office. She was expected to fly to Israel later on Thursday aboard Netanyahu’s plane. Israeli media have suggested that the pardon deal may have been eased by promises made by the Israeli government over the ownership of a building in Jerusalem which is important to the Russian Orthodox Church. The Alexander Courtyard, situated in Jerusalem’s Old City, has been contested for years and an Israeli court recently ruled in Russia’s favor.
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