The rift between Israel and Britain traces back to a tense call last month between Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on construction in E1. The British side left the call believing no tenders would be issued there before the elections. A week later, tenders for roughly 1,200 housing units were published, and London read it as a reversal. Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the report, saying Sa’ar only stated there would be no “change in the territory itself” before the elections. New York Times.