Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Moscow on Thursday to discuss the US Mideast peace plan and take an Israeli woman who had been jailed in Russia back home.
Netanyahu made a stopover in Moscow after visiting Washington where President Donald Trump as he unveiled his long-awaited Mideast peace plan Tuesday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Trump's plan envisions a disjointed Palestinian state that turns over key parts of the West Bank to Israel. It sides with Israel on key contentious issues that have bedeviled past peace efforts, including borders and the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements, and attaches nearly impossible conditions for granting the Palestinians their hoped-for state.
Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin as they sat down for talks in the Kremlin that he wants to discuss the plan and hear his opinion about it.
"You are the first leader I am speaking with after my visit to Washington for Trump's 'deal of the century,'" he said. "I think there is a new opportunity here, maybe even a unique opportunity, and I'd like to discuss it with you and hear your insights."
Video: Reuters
Trump called his plan a "win-win" for both Israel and the Palestinians and urged the Palestinians not to miss their opportunity for independence. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the plan as "nonsense" and vowed to resist it.
Putin didn't talk about Trump's plan in his opening remarks, and Russian officials so far have refrained from comment – a careful stance reflecting the Kremlin's desire to maintain warm ties with Israel and its hopes for a rapprochement with Trump's administration.
The Israeli leader's visit comes a day after Putin pardoned 26-year-old Naama Issachar, who was arrested in April at a Moscow airport, where she was transferring en route from India to Israel. Russian authorities said more than nine grams of hashish were found in her luggage. She was convicted and sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
Putin asked Netanyahu to give his regards to Issachar and her mother.
In a joint press conference, Putin welcomed Netanyahu, saying, "Dear prime minister, dear colleagues, I'm pleased to see you in Moscow. Of course, I cannot help but mention my visit to Israel. I would like to thank you once again personally because I know that you were one of the organizers of the creation of the monument dedicated to the victims of the Siege of Leningrad in Jerusalem."
Video: Reuters
"Prime minister, you contacted [me] with a request to pardon an Israeli citizen for breaking the law. She was carrying illegal narcotic substances. As you know, the pardon has been signed. Thankfully for her, she didn't cross the Russian border. It was discovered in her luggage while it was being transferred from one plane to another. Pass on my best wishes to her, her family and mother."
Putin met with Issachar's mother, Yaffa, when he visited Israel last week for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum.
Netanyahu then said, "Thank you, Mr. President. All our meetings and visits that have taken place [and] this visit symbolizes the further warming of our relations."
"Mr. President, you are the first world leader I've met after my visit to Washington and meeting with [US President Donald] Trump. I think today we have a special opportunity to talk with you and hear your opinion."
"I would like to thank you on behalf of all the people of Israel for granting a pardon to Naama Issachar," Netanyahu said. "This moves all of us and our gratitude is on behalf of all Israeli citizens, from the heart."
He added that Russia-Israel relations are now "the best they have ever been."
Issachar got on the plane with Netanyahu and sat with him and his wife on the way home.
