The United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has reaffirmed its support for the notorious anti-Israel “Durban Declaration” – but against the vocal opposition of the UK after an apparent last-minute turnaround before the vote.

The resolution was passed by 32 votes in favour to 10 against in the vote on Monday, with five abstentions, rather than unopposed as had been feared just the day before. The UK called for a vote at the session instead of allowing the anticipated consensus.

British envoy Simon Manley condemned the declaration in an impassioned speech to fellow member states, saying: “Racism should be tackled in all its forms and, regrettably, for far too long, the UN has downplayed the scourge of antisemitism. This must end.”

The declaration originating from the Durban conference in 2001 singled out only Israel as guilty of racism, naming no other states at all. It came after the proceedings in South Africa had witnessed widespread open antisemitism.

Although a 20th anniversary UNHRC conference in New York earlier in the year had been boycotted by the UK along with a number of other states, it had been feared that the British government would fail to oppose the resolution on Monday.

However, the UK joined Germany – which sources say also made a late switch – to vote against it, along with Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine.

British foreign secretary Liz Truss posted Mr Manley’s speech in Geneva condemning antisemitism, in which he also declared: “The UK is clear that we will not attend future iterations of the Durban Conference while concerns over antisemitism remain.”

The speech was presented as a joint statement with non-UNHRC member Australia. Ms Truss tweeted: “The UK is committed to tackling antisemitism and racism around the world.”

The Board of Deputies tweeted its gratitude, saying: "Thank you @trussliz @fcdogovuk & partners for this demonstration of the UK’s dedication to combatting antisemitism. It is vital that anti-Jewish racism is not left out of the fight against racism. Thank you to countries in the UNHRC that joined in showing such leadership."

Israel-based UN watchdog NGO Monitor’s legal advisor welcomed Britain’s stance, saying: “Today’s actions by the UK blocking consensus adoption of the HRC resolution on Durban, and voting no, along with 9 other countries, was a courageous rejection of UN-sponsored antisemitism. They should be commended.”

Israel is not a UNHRC member but is believed to have been speaking to countries behind the scenes to try and stop the resolution – which has been approved as a matter of routine by the council every two years – being passed unopposed.

The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva tweeted: “Thank you to the 10 countries who voted against the language referring to the Durban process, which has been repeatedly tainted with antisemitism. Israel's commitment to fighting all forms of racism & discrimination and to promoting tolerance & equality remains steadfast.”