BOBBIE BATTISTA, Anchor: U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher is heading to the Middle East later this month. The administration says it is an effort to get the peace process moving. Talks have been suspended since Israel deported hundreds of Palestinians in December. They are stuck in a snowbound camp near the Israeli-Lebanon border. Israel says the deportees have ties to terrorist groups. Christopher is set to leave in about two weeks.

Tomorrow, Israel's ambassador to the United States, Zalman Shoval, is set to leave his post in Washington to return to Israel. Yesterday he met with Vice President Al Gore and today Ambassador Shoval joins us from Washington.

Mr. Ambassador, it would appear that any continuation now of the peace talks has been postponed until at least the spring in light of this episode involving the deportees. Was it just the atmosphere involved that caused the postponement or were the two sides involved just not willing to continue the process?

ZALMAN SHOVAL, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.: I think that the matter of the deportees was a reason but not the only reason. It probably was an excuse as well. The Arab sides I think wanted to touch base with the new Clinton administration. They wanted to see what the direction is, where it comes from and so on and so forth. So, actually, we didn't think there would be a renewal- a resumption of these talks before February or perhaps March and I still hope that there may be a resumption before too long.

BATTISTA: What sort of influence do you expect the new secretary of state to have when he visits at the end of February? Can he get things moving again?

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, yes. This is a new administration. It's a new secretary of state. He's going over there and he'll probably say to the different parties - mainly to the Arabs, 'Look, we are interested. We the new administration will want to continue the same peace process. It's not a new ball game. It's the same game. There may be a new coach but there's going to be continuity.' And I think that is the message he wants to get across.

BATTISTA: If we may chat about the issue that's at the core of this postponement, all sides seem to be at an impasse. Israel made the offer for repatriation and the Palestinians rejected it. Whose move is it next?

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, Israel made its move. The United States made its position very clear and I think it sent the right signals to everybody concerned. I hope the security council won't create further turmoil by adopting all sorts of resolutions which the United States will have to react to- Israel will have to react to. I think what should happen now is everybody should count 'til 10 and there should be some gaining of time, and with time, I believe- with the Israeli proposal, which the American government endorsed- this problem will diminish over time. And let's not forget one thing - the main purpose for everyone - the main aim - is the peace process. I mean, the Palestinians stand to gain most from that. They stand to lose most if the peace process does not resume. And everybody has such an important stake- Israel, Palestinians, Arab States, the United States. I have no doubt that the peace process will resume after some further consideration.

BATTISTA: You say Israel made the offer. Is this Mr. Rabin's final proposal?

AMB. SHOVAL: Oh yes. It is his final proposal. It is a very flexible one and I think we should never forget- I mean, those who saw Larry King last night- we're not dealing with a humanitarian problem. We're dealing with a group of terrorists, of people who are related to terrorist organizations. They didn't even deny it yesterday on Larry King's program. They do constitute a grave danger, not just to Israel and not just to the peace-loving- those peace- loving Palestinians who want to engage us in the talks- they are opposed to the very existence of this peace process and I think that's the message we have to get across.

BATTISTA: Mr. Rabin says Israel retains the right to do this again, to expel further Palestinians if the state deems necessary. Do you believe that this episode or a future one will eventually have to end up in the lap of the U.N. security council?

AMB. SHOVAL: Well, I hope not. I think the point which Mr. Rabin tried to make - and it may have been misinterpreted - yes, we were vindicated legally, and perhaps even politically. This does not mean that Israel will do such a thing again and hopefully Israel will be effective, by this act or by other steps in the future, and perhaps with the cooperation of other countries and Palestinians, to put a stop to the Hamas terrorist activity and there won't be any further need for anything of that sort.

BATTISTA: Ambassador Shoval, thanks very much for joining us tonight and all -

AMB. SHOVAL: -- thank you very much.

BATTISTA: -- all the best to you.

AMB. SHOVAL: Same to you. Thank you.