Vladimir Putin has pardoned a US-Israeli woman sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for drug trafficking, hours before Israel’s prime minister was expected to arrive in the Russian capital.
Naama Issachar, 26, was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo international airport in April 2019, as she travelled from India to Israel. Russian authorities said they found 9g (0.3oz) of cannabis in her checked luggage.
“Guided by the principles of humanity, I pardon Naama Issachar,” said the decree, which was effective immediately.
Issachar, who was born in New Jersey, had been serving her sentence in a prison colony just outside Moscow.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Putin on Thursday, welcomed the pardon.
“I thank my friend President Putin for pardoning Naama Issachar,” he said. “I look forward to our meeting tomorrow in which we will discuss the deal of the century and the latest developments in the region.”
The two men are due to discuss Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli foreign ministry had called Issachar’s sentence “harsh and disproportionate” and the president, Reuven Rivlin, had appealed to Putin’s “mercy and compassion” when asking him to intervene in the case.
Last week, Israeli media linked Issachar’s possible pardon with the reported decision by Israeli authorities to pass control of the Alexander courtyard in Jerusalem’s Old City to Russia. Russian officials denied any connection.
The Alexander courtyard, which was bought by Russia in 1859, is meters from Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is one of several Jerusalem properties that Moscow claims, and the dispute over it has been a source of friction between the usually friendly Israel and Russia.
Some in Israel also linked Issachar’s arrest to the fate of Alexei Burkov, a Russian man who was arrested in Israel on a US warrant on charges of involvement in a $20m credit card fraud scheme.
Israeli media reports alleged that Russia hoped to use Issachar as a bargaining chip to persuade Israeli authorities to send Burkov home even though Russian officials never linked the issues.
