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Issachar was sentenced by a Russian court to seven and a half years in jail for drug offenses in October, but Israeli officials believe Russian authorities were using her case as leverage in order to get Israel to make concessions.

In return for clemency, Russia is apparently want Israel to make various Israeli gestures involving the treatment of Russian tourists in Israel or possibly grant it special rights to sites in Jerusalem that Moscow has long claimed ownership over.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly asked about her release and (Israeli President Reuven) Rivlin sent a letter. This humanitarian aspect of the issue will be discussed at the meeting," Ushakov said.

He also said that Putin may briefly meet US Vice President Mike Pence and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a Holocaust memorial event on Thursday.

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The report came from the Russian Kommersant newspaper on Thursday, citing sources in the Russian government. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that progress had been made on the matter in a phone call with the Russian leader.

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Kommersant also said that the Russian authorities were "disappointed and irritated" that Israel went on with extraditing Russian hacker Alexei Burkov, who was arrested in Tel Aviv in 2015, facing cybercrime charges in the US.

Issachar was handed a 7.5-year sentence by a Moscow court after some 10 grams of cannabis was allegedly found in her luggage as she flew from India to Israel via Moscow.

Appealing the sentence, Issachar claimed that she had been unaware of the drugs, suggesting they may have been planted in her luggage and said that she was interrogated without a translator and was forced to sign a confession in Russia, a language she does not speak.

While the appeal has been unsuccessful, Issachar 's team pledged to appeal the sentence again, with her family threatening to disrupt Putin's visit to Israel, slated for January 23.

Netanyahu has pledged to bring Issachar back home and said he was optimistic she would be released.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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According to Issachar's lawyer, who had been allowed to visit her, the detention conditions in the new prison are worse than in the previous one. The lawyer said that she was told that Russian authorities plan to move Issachar again next week, but she was not told where. The current transfer decision will be appealed, the lawyer said.

Issachar's family fears that she may be moved to a Siberian prison, to which access is even more restricted.

Earlier, Issachar tried to appeal her 7.5-year sentence, saying that the 9.5 grams of cannabis she allegedly carried in her bag while landing in Moscow for a connection flight to Tel Aviv could have been planted on her.
She also slammed other alleged irregularities in the case, saying that the Russian authorities forced her to sign documents in Russian, without a translation.

The court upheld her sentence, prompting Benjamin Netanyahu to pledge to bring Issachar back home.

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A Russian court rejected Issachar's appeal on Thursday to mitigate her sentence of seven-and-a-half years in prison on drug offenses after a small amount of marijuana was found in her luggage at a Moscow airport in April. On the same day, 15 Israelis disembarking their plane in Moscow were taken in for questioning by Russian authorities; a similar incident involving 40 Israelis occurred earlier this week.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to bring Issachar home.

"I am not a magician, but one thing I assure you. I will bring Naama Issachar home," he said at a recent rally in Haifa. Her imprisonment by Moscow has sparked widespread outcry in Israel and remained in the headlines for months.

In what appears to have been meant as a not-so-subtle message to Israel, the Russian embassy in Israel stated in a tweet on Wednesday that many Russian tourists had been refused entry to Israel in 2019, including 569 in November alone. Both issues were being addressed in a Thursday meeting between Russian and Israeli diplomats in Jerusalem.

"This is not a consular matter. The Russians are sending us a message. They are not pleased with us, and this has been going on for a long time," said Micky Aharonson – former head of the foreign-relations directorate of the National Security Council in the Prime Minister's Office and an expert on Russia at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security – referring to both cases. The Syria arena has also created tensions between the two countries, he said.

According to Aharonson, these cases involve "so many other things, such as the growing anger of the Russian military and security establishment towards Israel."

For instance, after foreign-media reports emerged earlier this month that Israeli fighter jets carrying out a mission in Syria had to flee Russian Su-35 planes, Russia came out in the media aggressively, stating that Israel used Iraqi and Jordanian airspace to carry out the mission. Since this was secret and not reported by Israeli media at the time, Russia's tattling was perceived in Israel as revenge.

Aharonson also pointed to the incident of the Russian airplane that was shot down by Syria in September 2018 as a major point of tension between Israel and Russia, which appeared to have been resolved.

Regardless, Aharonson said the Russians are "discontent with our behavior."

"They perceive themselves as having a positive approach to Israel, and they believe Israel is not reciprocating," he said.

'Standard negotiation tactics'

Emil Avdaliani, a Eurasia analyst at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, told Jewish News Syndicate that Israel's detentions of Russians is what seems to be the real motivation behind Russia's actions.

"Overall, the crisis was instigated right before the meeting of the two diplomatic missions planned for December 19," Avdaliani said. "However, contrary to many opinion articles in the Russian media, the 'manageable crisis' is unlikely to turn into a showdown. The Russians simply generated a 'manageable crisis' to have an advantage before the talks start."

Regarding the case of Issachar, Aharonson said that "it is a tragic humanitarian case, but it has no impact on the strategic relations between the countries." Her detention is a sign that Russia is displeased with Israel, he added.

Avdaliani pointed to major Kremlin-related media outlets saying that indeed Issachar is a part of negotiations. "It is standard negotiation tactics," he said. "Releasing Issachar is not in Russian interests; they would do so in exchange for concessions from Israel."

Russia reportedly had been pressuring Israel to release Aleksey Burkov, an IT specialist arrested in 2015 on US charges of credit-card fraud, in exchange for Issachar, but last month he was extradited to the United States.

As for the relationship between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aharonson said that they have a "positive and respectful relationship, but none of this would hold if Russian interests were at stake. The gestures are there, and it is not to be taken for granted. Netanyahu treats him with a lot of respect, and we see reciprocity in that sense, but it is only until Russian interests are involved."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Israel's Foreign Ministry confirmed that 46 people, including several young children, were detained for questioning by airport security. Following two hours of questioning and fingerprinting, all passengers were released.

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The incident comes after a group of eight businessmen were held in a Russian airport overnight and then deported back to Israel last week, according to an Israeli report.

The Foreign Ministry said it was working with Russian authorities to smooth travel for Israelis to the country.

These recent incidents come on the heels of the imprisonment of 26-year-old Israeli Naama Issachar in Russia.

Issachar was arrested in April while traveling via Moscow from India after Russian airport security discovered 9.6 grams of cannabis in her belongings. Two months ago, she was sentenced by a Russian court to 7.5 years in prison.

The Russian Embassy in Israel issued a statement about Wednesday's incident, saying "5,771 Russian tourists were not allowed to enter Israel in 2019. Every day about 20 Russian tourists arriving in Israel on an organized trip are detained and sent back to Russia. The Russian side does not respond to relevant Israeli authorities' decisions."

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Naama Issachar was arrested in April while traveling via Moscow from India after Russian airport security discovered 9.6 grams of cannabis in her belongings. Two months ago, she was sentenced by a Russian court to 7.5 years in prison.

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Speaking at a Likud gathering in Haifa, where he was greeted by hundreds of enthused supporters, Netanyahu promised to use his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to see that the 26-year-old returns to Israel.

"I am not a magician, but I will bring Naama Issachar home," he pledged.

Issachar's mother, Yaffa, sent a letter to Netanyahu on Tuesday requesting that he and the Foreign Ministry advocate for her daughter's release before the first night of Hanukkah, Sunday night.

According to various reports, before Issachar was sentenced, Moscow pressured Jerusalem for a prisoner exchange with Russian hacker Alexei Burkov, who was imprisoned in Israel at the time. The government refused but later allowed his extradition to the US.

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ראיון עם שגריר רוסיה, the RUNDOWN, i24NEWS. 27/11/2019 from i24NEWS on Vimeo.

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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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Naama Issachar, who was arrested in Russia during a layover, after 9.5 grams (0.3 oz) of cannabis were found in her luggage is facing 7.5 years in prison. Israel is trying to negotiate her release. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin asked President Vladimir Putin to commute her sentence.

"The Russians tried, and are constantly trying, to arrest Israeli citizens," Magen told Israel Hayom in an interview this week.

Magen, who served both as the Israeli envoy to Russia and Ukraine, said that there was nothing Israel could do but wait. "Everything that can be done to free Issachar, Israel has already done," he added.

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"Now, the question is, What does Russia want? Whoever started this offensive maneuver is of course Russia. The relationship is experiencing some tension, there are other occurrences of Russia using insults against Israel."

According to Magen, one such example was when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last month, "and he had to wait a long time until President Vladimir Putin finally met him ... If we connect the dots, we get the picture that not everything is as calm as it seems."

Issachar's punishment "is not a legal decision, it is a political-diplomatic decision that was given to the court. The Russian court is not even a player in this scenario. ... The public in Israel is furious, and the Russians know this, and they are essentially 'poking us in the eye.'"

Magen stresses that "Issachar is a hostage to be used as a bargaining chip in any future exchanges," warning Israel should expect more such provocations.

"Russia's foreign policy strategy is based on taking advantage of a situation and creating crises," he continued.

According to Magen, "sooner or later they will release her. They will not drag out the situation past the necessary minimum time. Most likely it will happen within the coming days or weeks, or even months."

But the tensions will remain, he insisted.

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Issachar was arrested in April after Russian police discovered 9 grams (0.3 oz) of cannabis in her bags during a layover in flights from India to Israel.

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In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesman for Netanyahu said the prime minister, along with President Reuven Rivlin, jointly sent an official request to Putin to pardon Issachar and repatriate her to Israel.

Issachar's case has sparked public interest in Israel, especially since the Moscow airport is a popular transit hub for Israeli backpackers, like the jailed 26-year-old, visiting India and southeast Asia.

Since the story first broke, meanwhile, Israeli travelers appear hesitant to travel through Moscow.

Research conducted by travel website Travelist, at the request of Israel Hayom, showed a sharp drop of over 40% in purchased flights with layovers in Russia since her sentencing last Friday, compared to the previous week.

Russian airline Aeroflot, one of the more popular among Israeli travelers looking for cheap flights to the Far East and the United States, was particularly affected by the current trend, even if only temporarily. Travelist reported a 14% drop in purchased Aeroflot flights via Russia.

Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin, who also heads the Economic Commission for Coordination between Israel and Russia, has advised Israelis traveling abroad to think twice before purchasing flights with stopovers in Russia.

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