Netanyahu spoke with Putin: 'We will do everything to get Naama back home'

A week before the Russian president is set to arrive, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video revealing that they spoke: "I'm optimistic, I feel he truly wants to reach a solution."

By ERIC BENDER/MAARIV, ANA BERSKY/MAARIV
Naama Issachar (photo credit: MAARIV)
Naama Issachar
(photo credit: MAARIV)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a video on Friday where he said that he is "much more optimistic" about Naama Issachar, the Israeli woman imprisoned in Russia for alleged possession of cannabis found on a stopover at a Moscow airport in April. Netanyahu spoke on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said he feels that: "He truly wants to reach a solution."
"I can't give away any details, but we will continue doing everything we can to bring Naama home," Netanyahu added. "Until then, we will continue strengthening the family and her." His comments were made over reports in the Russian media about Putin's intention to parole Issachar in preparation for his visit to Israel.
On Thursday it was announced that official sources in Russia are not ruling out the possibility of releasing Issachar, who was sentenced to over seven years in prison. Sources with knowledge on this matter have speculated that Issachar can receive the parole close to the Russian president's visit to Israel next week.
Likewise, the Russian source expressed disappointment while speaking with the Kommersant national daily newspaper, for Israel's refusal to extradite to Russia Alexei Borkov, who was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport in 2015. According to that source, Russia wished it would be a "two-way street." Still, official sources who spoke with the paper have not ruled out the possibility that Issachar will be given parole for humanitarian reasons.


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