Kurtzer: No excuse for Gaza terror

With Israel now out of the Gaza Strip, the US will defend "even more vigorously" Israel's right to defend itself if terrorism continues to emanate from the area, departing US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer told The Jerusalem Post Monday.

His comment came in response to a question about whether the US accepted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's premise that Israel had gained international legitimacy to use greater force in fighting terror from Gaza.

"I won't comment on the prime minister's view because he is articulating Israeli policy," said Kurtzer, who will be leaving Saturday night after more than four years as ambassador.

"I think it is fair for the prime minister to say that 'we feel we have this right or that capability.' I think, from the perspective of one of the key international players which has supported Israel's right to defend itself, we will defend it even more vigorously."

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Kurtzer said that while "there is never an excuse for terrorism, there is not even a hint of an excuse now if terrorism emanates from Gaza, or if rockets are launched from Gaza. What are they launching rockets at if Israel is no longer in Gaza? All they will be doing then is trying to kill Israelis. We always defend Israel's right to defend itself and provide security, and it will be even more so if terrorism continues to emanate from Gaza."

Regarding the destruction of the synagogues in Gush Katif, Kurtzer said that "no one can be happy about what emerged." But at the same time, he said, Israel placed the Palestinians in a very difficult position by "changing the signals" regarding the synagogues as it did.

"The last-minute change of direction on the part of the Israeli government was not easy for the Palestinians to assimilate," he said, referring to the government's reversal Sunday of its original decision to destroy the synagogues itself. "They were going along in a certain direction, with certain assumptions and understandings, and at the last minute, for Israeli reasons, Israel changes policy."

Kurtzer said that the about-face on this was "absolutely not" a provocation, but the result of "genuine anguish in the government as to what would be the right thing to do."

But, he said, changing the policy 12 hours before evacuation, going from a position in which Israel said that it would destroy the synagogues to a position in which it decided to leave them intact, "did not give the other side time to deal with it. There was no discussion, no prior coordination, nothing."

Earlier in the day, Kurtzer and his wife Sheila went to Beit Hanassi to say farewell to President Moshe Katsav.

Kurtzer told reporters that he and his wife were not saying good-bye, but simply lehitra'ot. He said they intended to come back often because Israel had a great deal of meaning for them and they had many friends here.

"We may be leaving temporarily, but Israel doesn't leave us," he said.

Katsav had high praise for the Kurtzers, whom he said had served US interests in Israel during one of the most difficult and stormy periods in the nation's history. Katsav said that he had shown great responsibility, sensitivity and professionalism. "We could not have asked for more professionalism and sensitivity under the circumstances," he added.

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