The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday rejected a Russian hacker's petition and approved his extradition to the United States.
Alexei Burkove was arrested in 2015 while visiting Israel and is wanted in the United States on suspicion of cyber crimes.
Burkove's fate is linked to that of an Israeli woman who was arrested in Russia in April. The woman, Nama Issachar, was arrested after police found 9 grams of cannabis in her luggage while she was traveling in the Moscow airport.
Issachar was sentenced to 7½ years in prison in what was seen in Israel as a way for the Russians to pressure the government not to extradite Burkov to the United States.
The Israeli supreme court also rejected Burkov’s request to be transferred to Russia and serve any sentence there, saying, "This is because it is not based on any cause of law which requires the State of Israel to do so."
