Naama Issachar was freed today after 10 months in a Russian prison, returning to the Jewish state with her mother in the prime minister's plane.

The Kremlin announced on Wednesday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed the pardon to free Israeli Naama Issachar from a lengthy prison sentence handed down over alleged possession of a small amount of contraband.

Officials close to the PM credited the 'close and personal relationship' between Netanyahu and Putin for the “significant progress” towards Issachar’s release.