Putin to hold off Naama Issachar decision until Israel forms government

While there was speculation that Putin might pardon the jailed young woman during his upcoming visit to Israel, it now seems he doesn’t want to do so.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an interview with Al Arabiya, Sky News Arabia and RT Arabic ahead of his visit to Saudi Arabia, in Sochi, Russia, in this undated picture released on October 13, 2019 (photo credit: SPUTNIK/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an interview with Al Arabiya, Sky News Arabia and RT Arabic ahead of his visit to Saudi Arabia, in Sochi, Russia, in this undated picture released on October 13, 2019
(photo credit: SPUTNIK/MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/KREMLIN VIA REUTERS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hold off making an official decision regarding the fate of 25-year-old Naama Issachar until Israel has a government, Mako reported on Tuesday. 
 
While it was speculated Putin might pardon the jailed young woman during his upcoming visit to Israel, it now seems like he doesn’t want to do so, since that would allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to present it as an achievement. The Mako report cites the Bloomberg news agency as its source.  
 
The lawyers representing Issachar informed her mother that the Russian court will discuss her appeal on December 12.   
 
Issachar is currently in Russian prison after being convicted of smuggling a small amount of cannabis into Russia during a layover. She was returning from India to Israel with a stop-over in Russia. The cannabis was not on her person but in her transported luggage where, her lawyers claim, she was unable to access it or sell it to anyone while in Russia.