"Britain voted in favour of a UN resolution based on a report that condemned Israel's actions in last summer's Gaza war and accused it of war crimes – at the request of Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli prime minister's office rang David Cameron on Friday morning asking him to change his plan to support Israel's public stance on the resolution because it represented a considerably watered-down version of an earlier one, the JC understands.
Mr Cameron's initial reaction was that it would be 'pure madness', particularly as he had made several statements voicing support for Israel recently.
But the Israelis feared that, had the watered down resolution been overturned, the original resolution on the report by the Gaza Conflict Commission of Inquiry would have been revived.
As a result, the resolution was supported by 41 of the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council, including Germany, France and the Netherlands. Only the US voted against it...
Highly placed Whitehall sources have revealed that the Israelis regarded Friday's UNHRC vote as being the lesser of two evils. Although accusing Israel of war crimes, it also held Hamas responsible, and marked a significant watering down of the original resolution put before the council.
One source told the JC: 'We thought this was extraordinary, to put it mildly, but decided to do as Israel asked...'"