Jonathan Pollard welcomed by Netanyahu as he arrives in Israel

Israel was a "wonderful country" and "the future of the Jewish people," he said.

He was arrested in 1985 after trying to claim asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and two years later received a life sentence, having pleaded guilty to passing thousands of classified defence documents to Israel.

For years, Israeli and diaspora campaigners lobbied for his release, believing  his sentence too harsh.

In 2015, he was freed on parole under strict conditions including a night curfew and having to wear an electronic tag.

But last month, Mr Netanyahu telephoned him to say he would soon be on his way to Israel.

Mr Pollard was flown on a private jet supplied by the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Israel Hayom newspaper.

But Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged the country to “lower our excitement – it doesn’t help with the American defence system, which sees the Pollard affair as an unacceptable incident.”