An Israeli official says Russia will release Israeli-American backpacker Naama Issachar from prison imminently.
The official says the release was the result of a Russian goodwill gesture toward the United States, stressing that Israel did not give Moscow anything in return.
President Vladimir Putin, who has the final say on a pardon for Issachar, has yet to publicly announce a decision on her fate.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fly from Washington to the Russian capital later Wednesday, where he is expected to secure Issachar’s release on Thursday and fly her back to Israel.
Israeli-American Naama Issachar, jailed for drug smuggling, attends her appeal hearing at the Moscow Regional Court on December 19, 2019. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP)
“There was no deal with Russia. Naama’s release was done as a gesture by President [Vladimir] Putin to the US,” a senior official in an inter-ministerial committee dealing with the case tells reporters in Netanyahu’s entourage.
The government dealt with Issachar’s case not only because of the state’s responsibility toward all its citizens but also out of a desire to solve a problem “that could hurt the sensitive relations between Russia and Israel,” the official adds, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Issachar was sentenced in October to 7.5 years in Russian prison after being found with drugs in her luggage while passing through a Moscow airport.
— Raphael Ahren
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