Hodaya Monsongo, 24, has medical and mental health issues, including a diagnosis of limited cognitive ability, Reuven Rivlin said in his letter, sent days after Russian President Vladimir Putin pardoned Israeli backpacker Naama Issachar for drug offenses.
The statement from U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had begun mapping the area to prepare for annexation and that it “would not take long.”