Israeli Minister Says Chances Of Signing Extradition Agreement With Russia Dropped

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published October 24, 2019 | 08:10 AM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2019) Zeev Elkin, the Israeli minister of Environmental Protection and of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, said that Russia and Israel have been working on an extradition deal but chances of signing it have significantly decreased in the wake of a Russian court decision to give a prison term to an Israeli national who had drugs in her luggage while moving though a transit zone of a Moscow airport.

Naama Issachar, who has dual Israeli-US citizenship, was arrested earlier this year while she was on her way to Israel from India. She was found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. The penalty has been harshly criticized in Israel as "disproportionate," since the amount of drugs found was allowed for personal use in Israel.

"Over recent days, an agreement that could facilitate such extradition in the future has been prepared. It envisaged mutual extradition of Israeli and Russian citizens, allowing them to serve their sentences in Israel and Russia.

But now, chances that it will be signed are much lower. I do not know if this will happen in the near future. I do not know to what extent our Justice Ministry will be able to make progress with such agreement in this social atmosphere," Elkin said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestiya.

Elkin, an Israeli co-chair of the Russian-Israeli Intergovernmental Commission, said that Issachar's trial has affected bilateral relations and expressed concerns about the re-emergence of negative stereotypes about Russia in Israel.

While the Israeli authorities asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon Issachar, activists launched a campaign calling on Israeli citizens to refrain from flights to Moscow.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin asked Putin to send Issachar home. The Kremlin has promised to consider Israeli leaders' request as soon as it is received via diplomatic channels.