The resolution was approved by 14 of the security council's 15 members in an evening vote. Rice abstained.
U.S. officials have not disputed Olmert's account. But in one inconsistency, Bush returned to the White House from Philadelphia hours before the U.N. vote, according to the president's schedule.
Critics in Israel have complained that the resolution, while nonbinding, reflected a failure of Israeli diplomacy. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni didn't attend the debate, while a number of Arab foreign ministers were deeply involved in the three days of discussions over it.
A senior U.S. official said the Bush administration preferred a peace blueprint being assembled by Egypt, but didn't want to veto the U.N. resolution by voting against it.
There had been speculation that Rice was ordered to change course, and Olmert's version of events "seemed to make sense," said Nathan Brown, head of Middle East studies at George Washington University.
Rice had been pushing hard for the resolution draft, then abruptly shifted ground. Several European diplomats said afterward that they were shocked by the move.
"It seemed like a strange step," Brown said.
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paul.richter@latimes.com
Tribune correspondent Joel Greenberg and Times staff writer Richard Boudreaux in Jerusalem and Times staff writer Geraldine Baum at the United Nations contributed to this report.
