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The two are accused of swindling international companies out of some 15 million euros ($17,530,650).

The suspects' extradition was the result of a year-and-a-half-long investigation by the Tel Aviv District Police's Fraud Unit, in coordination with Norwegian authorities.

The suspects allegedly posed as CEOs of international companies and withdrew funds from bank accounts they had demanded to transfer money to.

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Usama and Issam Hamade are charged with conspiracy to violate US export laws. Usama Hamade is also charged with smuggling. Prosecutors say that from 2009 to 2013, the Lebanese brothers repeatedly acquired sophisticated technology for drones then illegally exported them to Hezbollah, which the US considers a terrorist organization.

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The Hamades were arrested in February 2018 in South Africa and were recently extradited to the US. They will appear in a federal court in Minnesota on Tuesday for a hearing to determine whether they will be released pending trial. A third defendant, Samir Ahmed Berro, remains at large.

An attorney for Issam Hamade said in a court filing that his client was a member of the Lebanese Armed Forces, not Hezbollah. An attorney for Usama Hamade made no comment ahead of Tuesday's hearing.

According to an indictment, the parts included inertial measurement units, which can be used to track an aircraft's position, and digital compasses, which can be paired with the inertial measurement units for drone guidance systems. The parts also included a jet engine and 20 piston engines.

Prosecutors wrote that Hezbollah has used drones for many years and that the brothers "present a danger to the United States, and to other communities around the world."

Prosecutors painted Usama Hamade as a "violent, drunken, gun-toting thug" who threatened to kill a government witness and his family by cutting him "to pieces" and once bragged that he cut off his gardener's arms and bashed his gardener's skull after an apparent theft.

The witness told authorities that he had regular contact with Usama Hamade from 2009 to 2011, and that he and his wife went to Lebanon with Usama Hamade in 2010. When they arrived in Beirut, the witness said, a group of armed men in darkened limos separated him from his wife and drove them with lights and sirens to a flat that Usama called his Beirut home.

The witness said Usama told him the Hamade brothers were both members of Hezbollah, and both brothers had pictures of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in their homes. Usama Hamade also had firearms around the flat and fired shots into the sky. Usama Hamade also filmed the inside of his apartment and posted the video to Facebook. A Hezbollah flag is visible, as well as an assault rifle propped against the nightstand, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that as he was fighting extradition to the US, Usama Hamade said Nasrallah is a spiritual leader and there is nothing nefarious about the photograph. Hamade also said Hezbollah is a political party, not a terrorist organization.

Prosecutors called that "preposterous," saying one of the drone parts acquired is only useful in military applications. They say Skype calls between Usama Hamade and an undercover agent show Hamade said he would be proud to be placed on the US terror list.

Issam Hamade's attorney, Bruce Nestor, wrote in his court filings that a Shiite Muslim would have to show public allegiance to Hezbollah or another group to avoid physical harm or retribution.

But prosecutors said Issam Hamade posted pictures of the 9/11 attacks on Facebook and suggested the attacks wouldn't have happened if the World Trade Center had been built in reverence to Allah.

Prosecutors plan to show the Facebook posts, Skype calls and other evidence at Tuesday's hearing.

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Netanyahu asked Putin last week to pardon Issachar, who was sentenced by Russia this month to 7.5 years in jail for drug smuggling.

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The New Jersey-born woman was arrested in April after police found 9.5 grams (0.34 ounces) of cannabis in her bag during a stopover at a Moscow airport.

Speaking to reporters at a briefing in Moscow, Ushakov said the question of a presidential pardon "was touched upon in one way or another" during a phone call on Monday, but gave no further details.

The case marks an unusual public rift between Israel and Russia.

Issachar's family says she is being punished disproportionately to pressure Israel into freeing a Russian whom Israel is holding on a US extradition request.

Moments before Issachar was sentenced, Netanyahu ruled out any swap of Issachar for a Russian national named Alexei Burkov who was detained while visiting Israel in 2015. Israeli officials say the United States wants to extradite Burkov for suspected cybercrimes.

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Issachar's mother, Yaffa, met her daughter at the penitentiary on Monday.

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"I'm tired and exhausted," Issachar told her mother. "I can't anymore. I just want to get out of this prison, please."

Naama was sentenced by a Russian court to 7.5 years in prison after 9.5 grams of cannabis were found in her baggage during her layover at a Moscow airport earlier this year.

But her situation became more complicated as reports emerged that Putin requested a swap deal involving Naama and Russian hacker Alexei Borkov, who has been detained in Israel for the past four years and is wanted by the United States for suspected cyber offenses.

In August, Israel's Supreme Court ruled Borkov extraditable to the US, in spite of his request that he be extradited to Moscow rather than Washington.

Borkov was arrested at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport on Dec. 13, 2015, at the request of the American government.

Israeli newspaper Globes said Borkov had been indicted in 2015 by the state of Virginia for running an internet credit card scam and was arrested in December that year at the Israeli international airport where he arrived as a tourist.

"I have been held in an Israeli jail for four years now because of political games," Borkov told Israel's Channel 13 News in a telephone interview on Sunday. He also said that he had no links to the Russian government or intelligence agencies.

Netanyahu and Putin reportedly discussed the proposed prisoner exchange deal at a meeting in Sochi on Sept. 12, but Netanyahu explained that Israel could not do what Russia wanted.

"The authorities in Israel have been active regarding Issachar throughout her detention. Israel has delivered a clear message: The punishment being demanded by the Russian prosecutor is disproportionate and does not fit the nature of the offense being attributed to Issachar," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office on Friday read.

Netanyahu has appeared to rule out any such exchange, saying Israel's Supreme Court had approved Borkov's extradition to the United States.

Israeli and US officials would not disclose further details of Borkov's suspected crimes and his lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

To be implemented, Borkov's extradition must be formally approved by Israel's justice minister, Amir Ohana, who on Saturday said he would decide whether to do so within days and hinted that he might weigh a rival Russian extradition request.

Such a request had been filed by Russia, Ohana told Israel's Channel 13 News, but it was "rather thin in terms of material."

"In order to decide that he is extraditable to Russia, a court needs to rule that he is extraditable. That has not yet happened," Ohana said.

On Tuesday, Israeli news site Ynet reported that Ohana was expected to okay Borkov's extradition to the US.

The US Embassy in Israel has not commented on the Borkov or Issachar case.

President Reuven Rivlin also asked Putin to pardon Issachar.

In a letter to Putin on Sunday, Rivlin said Issachar had "made a grave mistake and has admitted her crime," and asked the Russian leader for his "personal intervention to grant her an extraordinary pardon."

The letter, published on Rivlin's Twitter account, noted recent Russian help in locating the remains of Israeli soldier Zachary Baumel, killed by Syrian forces in a 1982 battle in Lebanon.

"The Jewish People and State of Israel are grateful for your sensitivity to human life," Rivlin wrote to Putin.

Today, I appealed to President Putin of Russia, as a friend of the Jewish People and of the State of Israel, regarding Naama Issachar. Although Naama has made a grave mistake and admitted it, such a long sentence could have a terrible impact on her life. @KremlinRussia_E pic.twitter.com/9NxbPC6RrP

— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) 13 באוקטובר 2019

Meanwhile, former Prisoner of Zion and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, who was imprisoned for 13 years in the former Soviet Union, criticized Russia over the current affair involving Issachar.

"This is a cynical exploitation of a civilian for extortion purposes," he told Israel Hayom. "She is a hostage of the Russian regime. Good for her keeping her spirits up. It's very important because you need all the inner fortitude possible to deal with it."

As for Issachar's disproportionate 7.5-year prison sentence, Sharansky said it was levied "to prevent the extradition of the hacker [Borkov] that Israel should extradite to America. They looked for leverage. It's obvious that they took her hostage. Russia is making an effort to build itself as a connection hub for travelers. Travelers should think twice before using connection flights from Moscow to save a few hundred dollars."

Parts of this article were originally published by i24NEWS.

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Malka Leifer poses a flight risk and should remain behind bars until extradition proceedings conclude, Justice Anat Baron ruled, finding in favor of prosecutors' appeal against the Jerusalem District Court's Oct. 2 order.

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Leifer fled from Australia in 2008 with what Australian authorities believe was the assistance of the insular Adass Jewish community, after accusations against her surfaced.

A former principal of Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls' school in Melbourne, Leifer is wanted by Australian police on 74 sexual assault charges, including rape, involving girls at the institution.

The district court ruled in 2016 that Leifer, who has denied the charges, was mentally unfit to face extradition and trial.

She was rearrested in 2018 after a police investigation raised questions about the state of her health.

Last month, the district court, in considering extradition, said more psychiatric evidence was needed before it could decide the issue, and ordered a new panel of experts to assess Leifer's mental condition and deliver a report in December.

In August, the Israel Police recommended indicting Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman on suspicion he tried to pressure court-appointed psychiatrists to support Leifer's mental illness claims.

It will be up to state prosecutors to decide whether to accept the police findings and charge Litzman, who has denied any wrongdoing.

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