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| - Russia on Thursday freed a US-Israeli woman jailed for drug trafficking after she was pardoned by President Vladimir Putin. Russia released 26-year-old Naama Issachar as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Putin at the Kremlin to discuss US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan. Issachar's case caused an outcry in Israel and she was set to fly back with Netanyahu after his meeting with Putin, an Israeli government official confirmed to AFP. Issachar was arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport in April 2019 while she was in the transit zone en route from India to Israel. Russian authorities said they found nine grammes (three ounces) of cannabis in her checked luggage and she was sentenced in October to seven and a half years in prison. Her case was controversial because she was sentenced for drug trafficking while she was in transit and the drugs were in hold luggage. Putin pardoned Issachar on Wednesday after she submitted a request at the weekend. "Guided by the principles of humanity, I pardon Naama Issachar," Putin said in a decree cited by the Kremlin. He told Netanyahu that it was lucky for Issachar that she did not cross the border, suggesting this would have complicated the pardon procedure. "She -- thank God, it's very good for her -- didn't even cross the Russian border," Putin said, adding that the drugs were found in her luggage while the baggage was being moved from one plane to another. He told Netanyahu: "Give my very best regards to her, her family and her mum." Issachar's fate had sparked a wave of sympathy in Israel where Netanyahu had pledged to do everything for her release. Her mother Yaffa Issachar told Israeli media in Russia that her daughter was "out, in a car". "Finally, thank God, thanks to everyone," she was quoted as saying. In December, Issachar lost an appeal against her sentence, which Netanyahu had described as disproportionate. During the appeal hearing, Issachar had proclaimed her innocence, denouncing the charges against her as absurd. After initially refusing to appeal to Putin, on Sunday she signed a request for a pardon. Putin appeared with Issachar's mother and Netanyahu while visiting Israel last week for commemorations of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz 75 years ago. The Israeli foreign ministry had called the verdict "harsh and disproportionate" and President Reuven Rivlin had appealed to Putin's "mercy and compassion" when asking him to intervene in the case. Flying back to Israel with Issachar was likely to be a publicity coup for Netanyahu ahead of March 2 elections. But the official purpose of his visit to Moscow was to discuss Trump's Middle East peace plan with Putin. "I think there's a new and perhaps unique opportunity here," the Israeli premier told Putin at the Kremlin. Netanyahu stood alongside Trump at the White House when the peace plan was announced Tuesday and called it a victory for Israel. He told Putin "you're actually the first leader I'm speaking with after my visit to Washington about President Trump's Deal of the Century." "I'd like to speak to you and hear your insights and see how we can combine all our forces for security and peace," he said. Putin did not comment on the deal, however. Netanyahu is standing for re-election in toughly contested March 2 polls and it remains to be seen how much Issachar's release and Netanyahu's visit to Washington boost his re-election chances. Analysts said the details of Trump's plan could offer political benefits to Netanyahu, delighting rightwing voters with calls for the annexation of West Bank settlements and possibly appeasing some on the left with nominal support for a Palestinian state. Russia has said it will study Trump's plan and called on Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate directly to find a "mutually acceptable compromise." jjm-or-am/mm/wai
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