FRANK SESNO: Mr. Ambassador, how long, to what end will this operation continue?

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.: We hope that it doesn't have to take very long and that suffering on both sides of the border can be brought to an end soon. But the end is very clear. There has to be a complete end to Hizbullah attacks. There was an agreement limiting these attacks that functioned relatively well between the summer of '93 and until a few weeks ago. In the past few weeks there's been a deliberate policy by Hizbullah and by Iran - that is the power behind and beyond Hizbullah - to shoot freely, at will, into Israel in order to provoke, in order to bring damage about. And before this is brought to an end, we will not cease our pressure on Hizbullah and on the government of Lebanon.

FRANK SESNO: Well, Mr. Ambassador, are you saying that Israel will reject any kind of diplomatic intervention, will reject any kind of talk, until militarily all the Hizbullah guerrilla activities and bases, as far as you can identify them, are destroyed; that this is, first and foremost, a military operation?

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH: No, definitely not. First of all, we're not rejecting any diplomatic initiative. Secondly, we're not seeking to destroy. What we are seeking to bring about is an end to attacks against us. If Hizbullah undertakes to do that, stops this attack, and undertakes not to attack in the future, and the political powers - first and foremost, the government of Lebanon, but also the government of Syria that has sway in Lebanon - persuade us that this is something that is going to hold on, we will, of course, accept it. A military operation has logic only in a political and diplomatic sense. And what we are looking for is a political and diplomatic solution, but one that is going to work, one that is going to hold water.

FRANK SESNO: Two hundred thousand Lebanese civilians have become refugees. The civilians have become casualties, as they often are, in operations such as this. Israel has been condemned by many, most within the Arab world. What does all this do to the peace process?

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH: The peace process, of course, is under siege, is beleaguered. But it is not beleaguered by this. It is beleaguered by Hizbullah and by Iran. And as I said earlier, this is something that began a few weeks ago. It began deliberately. The same hand that sent the Hamas suicide bombers to act inside Israel is the same hand that pushes about in Lebanon.

When we had the summit of peacemakers in order to try to deal with that, on that very day there was a broad range of Katyusha attacks all along the Lebanese-Israeli border as a signal to all of us that Iran and its allies or henchmen in Lebanon do not share that policy. And therefore, all of us who are partners to Middle Eastern peace want and ought to work together in order to bring a political and a practical end to all of this.

FRANK SESNO: Mr. Ambassador, let me touch on the whole issue of diplomatic initiative, though, one more time. Would Israel be interested in engagement by the United States, which has brokered arrangements, agreements, cease-fires in the past, at this time between Israel and Lebanon?

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH: We, of course, will be interested in an American initiative or activity in all of this. We speak to the U.S. government all the time. But I think the time to become active and the time to try to broker is the time when there is clear willingness on the other side not only to respond technically but to respond in a fashion that will bring an effective end to violence and bloodshed.

FRANK SESNO: So you're saying the time is not right yet for diplomacy?

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH: I'm not determining that the time is right now or not right now. I'm saying that there has to be a very simple test to the suitability of the time frame; namely, when the United States discovers on the other side that there is willingness to engage seriously with an understanding that what we ought to achieve is not some arrangements that may collapse after 24 hours, but a durable, practical, virtual end to all fire and violence, then would be the right time.

FRANK SESNO: All right, finally, Mr. Ambassador, one last question. What do you say to your critics, Israel's critics around the world, who say that this is much less about military operations and security than it is about politics, specifically the election upcoming that Mr. Peres faces and very tough opposition from Mr. Netanyahu and the Likud party?

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH: I would say that the Israeli government has shown an amazing degree of patience and resilience over the past few weeks. This is not something that began last week. This is something that began a few weeks ago. And we have really lingered because we wanted to let the political- diplomatic channels yield the most. But I would say that those who speak about politicking, those who speak about electioneering, should take a very hard look at Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas and ask themselves, 'Why is it that now, a few weeks before the elections, we see this sustained campaign by Iran and its emissaries in the Arab world?' Maybe the people who are trying to affect elections in Israel are on the other side of the border. FRANK SESNO: Itamar Rabinovich, Israeli ambassador to the United States, thanks very much for joining us today from New York.

AMB. ITAMAR RABINOVICH: Thank you very much.