Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed that Moscow will release an Israeli drug dealer in return for regaining property owned by the Russian church in Jerusalem, Israeli media revealed yesterday.

According to Arab48, Israeli Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported that Russia is to release Naama Issachar, who is serving a prison term in Russia for drug smuggling.

The Israeli newspaper said Issachar would be released on condition that Israel ends its control over Alexander Nevsky Compound in Jerusalem, which was built by the Russian tsar in 1864 to serve Russian pilgrims who visit the holy city.

Alexander Nevsky Compound was a property of the Russian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem until the British Mandate of Palestine when it was turned into a police station and remained as such during the Israeli occupation.

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The reports revealed that the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov met last week with the Israeli Minister of Social Equality Gila Gamliel who asked for Issachar to be released on humanitarian grounds.

Bogdanov and Gamliel met again in Israel, according to Maariv, but Gamliel refused to disclose information about the outcomes of the meeting on Netanyahu’s request.