As 2014 drew to a close, the assessment at the United Nations was that the Palestinians would postpone the vote on their proposal to set a fixed timetable for the establishment of an independent state.

The US had made it clear that they would vote against, meaning that even if Palestinian proposal received the necessary nine-nation majority, it would be vetoed.

On Monday, Britain's ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said that the UK would not be supporting the Palestinian proposal either.

Confident that the vote would be delayed, Israel's envoy, Ron Prosor, left New York for a conference in Jerusalem. On Tuesday, however, all the plans were upended as ambassadors were summoned to the Security Council chamber. The Palestinians, acting through the Jordanian delegation, had requested an immediate vote.

What had changed? The French government had finally decided to vote in favour and the Palestinians believed that that would be sufficient to deliver the ninth vote, forcing the US to veto the proposal and resulting in what they believed would be a "moral victory".

With only two nations voting against - the US and Australia - the UK, Lithuania and South Korea promising to abstain, and six definite votes in favour (including Russia's), the focus was on four members: France, Luxembourg, Rwanda and Nigeria.

Israeli and US pressure on the two European nations failed to deliver, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the presidents of Nigeria and Rwanda and convinced them to abstain in the name of close relations with
Jerusalem.

They did, and the proposal received only eight votes in favour.

Israel's foreign policy balance sheet now shows damage to its relations with Europe and a surprising improvement in its ties with sub-saharan Africa.

The expectation is that the Palestinians will push for another vote soon, with new members joining the Security Council in 2015.