Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday agreed with a recommendation by senior Israel Defense Forces officers that Israel should respond harshly to Hezbollah provocation along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Such provocation includes throwing rocks at IDF patrols, holding protests near the border and hanging Hezbollah flags along the fence - moves that IDF General Staff and Northern Command officials say are meant to test Israeli policy in the wake of last summer's Lebanon war.

Israel will not allow "the reality of the gradual erosion of directives, which took place for six years along the border, to return," Peretz told reporters. "We will not return to the situation preceding the second Lebanon war."

Peretz also said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has been doing a good job responding to Israeli requests that it deal with Lebanese provocation.

The Israeli response to the Hezbollah abduction of two soldiers on July 12, which set off the war, has somewhat deterred Hezbollah from further attacks. This deterrence has been furthered by the destruction of Hezbollah outposts and the militants' being forced a greater distance away from the border. However, the senior officers said Hezbollah is now testing its new limits.

During Peretz's visit to Division 91 headquarters in the Galilee on Tuesday, the officers recommended that even light offenses on Hezbollah's part be treated severely, in an effort to prevent the militant organization from altering the current state of affairs along the border.

For the first time, Peretz also publicly objected to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to reject a renewal of negotiations with Syria.