Former prisoner Gilad Shalit visits the set of Homeland

Damian Lewis and Claire Danes in Homeland

The Israeli soldier who was freed last October after more than five years of being a Hamas captive has visited the set of Homeland.

Gilad Shalit joined actors Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin in Jaffa where they were filming for the second series of the hit drama, which was inspired partly by the soldier's own story.

Homeland is based on a series created by Gideon Raff called Hatufim, which follows the return of two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by terrorists 17 years earlier.

The show aired in Israel before Sergeant Shalit's release, with some criticising it as an inappropriate subject to tackle given the soldier's continued captivity. Mr Raff told the JC that he disagreed, because "if it's not Shalit, it's Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev or Ron Arad. Unfortunately there will be other [prisoners of war]."

The 25-year-old, who is said to be a fan of Homeland, was offered the chance to guest star in the series, which focuses on the return of an American soldier, but declined.