Time Managing Editor Rick Stengel 'Sad' Israel-West Bank Wall 'Has Actually Worked'

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In Time Magazine Managing Editor Rick Stengel's mind, it's really "sad" that the wall between Israel and the West Bank - intended to keep murderous terrorists in the Palestinian territory - has been a success. Stengel apparently considers Isreali deaths worthwhile if they lead to more productive peace talks.

In a "Morning Joe" segment yesterday titled "Why Israel doesn't care about peace" - after the upcoming Time cover story - Stengel posited that the lack of violence in Isreal is responsible for that country's supposed reluctance to reach a peace deal. Stengel stated (video below the fold - h/t Jim Hoft):

They haven't had a car bombing in two and a half years. And the sad truth really is that the wall with the West Bank has actually worked. I mean, most Israelis in the course of their lives don't come into contact with any Palestinians at all. The wall is functioning. And the Gaza strip is so small and so isolated they feel that those folks, the Hamas folks are not that big of a threat...

I mean, the Israelis feel like, you know what? The status quo isn't so bad and we don't mind is there is no peace at all.

So the truth is sad, presumably, because the deaths of innocent Israelis would be a worthwhile price to pay for the progression of Middle East peace talks, by Stengel's account. That is what Stengel is saying: the wall has succeeded, but at the price of impeding the peace talks. He says that fact is sad, meaning no wall, or a less effective wall would be preferable. More Israelis would die from car bombings, but at least the peace talks would move forward.

Stengel believes it would be preferable for more Israelis to be killed by Palestinain terrorists, if it meant that those murderers would get Israeli leaders to the negotiating table. Good to know.

This is not a commentator saying this, mind you. This is the managing editor of Time magazine opining that more Israeli deaths would be preferable to the status quo. If this does not convince you that the mainstream media is decidedly anti-Israel, nothing will.

The contention that Israel is less interested in peace talks because it does not have much to fear from the belligerent territory to its west is a valid concern, and does not require one to weigh in on the Israeli/Palestinian issue. But Stengel made a value judgment on that statement, claiming that more Israeli deaths (how many more he didn't specify) are an acceptable sacrifice.

That speaks volumes about Time's ability to weigh in objectively on the issue.