Israeli nongovernmental organization B’Tselem has come a long way from when it was founded in 1989, around the time the first intifada erupted, as an organization devoted to defending human rights in the occupied territories. On Oct. 14, it addressed the UN Security Council in an informal meeting on "Illegal Israeli Settlements: Obstacles to Peace and the Two-State Solution."

Over the years, the organization has become a favorite punching bag for the right, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Friday, it gave the right another chance to score political points at its expense, while causing enormous damage to the Israeli center-left.

In his speech, the group’s executive director, Hagai El-Ad, called on the world to take action against Israel’s occupation of the territories. El-Ad implored the world to act now — after almost half a century of occupation, saying, “Anything short of decisive international action will achieve nothing.’’ He added, “Clearly, the occupation is internationally sustainable. It is so because so far the world refuses to take effective action. … [You must] send to the world, to Israelis and to Palestinians, a clear message, backed by international action: Israel cannot have it both ways. You cannot occupy a people for 50 years and call yourself a democracy.”

One could say that nothing El-Ad said should have been considered problematic by the left and even the center-left, apart from the fact that his remarks were said “outside,” at the United Nations, which is considered hostile to Israel. After all, just a few days earlier, one branch of that same organization (UNESCO) issued a troubling statement denying that Jews had any connection to the Temple Mount.