David Hughes, PA Political Editor

RAF jets were pulled away from protecting Nato from Vladimir Putin’s Russia to bolster efforts to defend Israel.

The Typhoon aircraft were redeployed from Romania to take part in the operation to defend against Tehran’s drone and missile barrage.

Other Nato allies covered for the RAF in eastern Europe, but the decision has once again put the UK’s defence budget under the spotlight with resources stretched around the world’s hotspots.

Rishi Sunak has committed to increase defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product – a measure of the size of the economy – when conditions allow.

But he is under pressure from the military and senior Tories to go further and faster due to the current level of global insecurity.

Former defence secretary Ben Wallace told the PA news agency: “The absurd line, deployed by both political parties that we shall only invest in defence ‘when economic conditions allow’ have been exposed as a political excuse.

“We need to invest as the threat determines. Without such investment our security will be at risk and our forces will be stretched.”