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Naama Issachar Arrives Home in Israel After Being Freed From Russian Jail: ‘I’m Grateful for Everything’
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by Benjamin Kerstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, meet Naama Issachar and her mother Yafa in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 30, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Kobi Gideon / GPO / Handout via Reuters.
After spending nearly a year in Russian prison, Naama Issachar returned home to Israel on Thursday, telling the press after she arrived that she was “in shock” but “grateful for everything.”
Issachar, a 26-year-old Israeli-American dual citizen, was arrested at a Moscow airport last April when she was found to be in possession of a small amount of cannabis during a stopover on the way back to the Jewish state from a trip to India. She was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for drug smuggling, a charge she denied.
Issachar was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and flew back to Israel on Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stopped in Moscow as he was returning from a trip to Washington, DC, for the unveiling of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan.
“I’m still in shock from the whole situation,” Issachar told reporters at Ben-Gurion International Airport, “but I’m grateful for everything.”
From the airport, Issachar went to her home in Rehovot to be reunited with family and friends.
She told the media gathered outside the house, “Thank you to everyone for their support.”
Issachar’s mother Yafa, who has led the campaign to free her, said that when the plane touched down on Israeli soil, Naama began to cry.
“She hadn’t seen a sunset in so long, and she loves sunsets so much,” said Yafa. “The tears ran down, she was so excited by the simple things: To touch forks, knives, and spoons, to drink out of a glass.”
“We’ll be with close family,” she said of what will happen next. “We’ll let her recover, we’ll hold her tight. I don’t know what kind of girl I’m getting back.”
Naama reportedly met with her mother alone before the plane took off from Moscow, and then with Netanyahu and his wife Sara.
She thanked them both tearfully, and Netanyahu said, “We’re very excited to see you. We’re going home now.”
