Ministers urge Sharon to end cease-fire

Gissin said "a red line was crossed" in Friday's bombing. Listen to more of what Gissin had to say ( 436 K/40 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faced new calls from within his government Saturday to abandon a unilateral Israeli cease-fire after Friday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Danny Naveh, one of Sharon's Cabinet ministers, said that decision could be made at a meeting of top ministers Saturday morning.

"We'll have to see whether we can continue with this policy of unilateral cease-fire, whether it's about time for Israel to take measures for those actions against the terrorist targets that are based within the Palestinian territory," Naveh said.

Israeli forces have been under orders since May 22 to refrain from firing except "when life is in danger." But after at least 17 people died in a suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv discotheque Friday night, some in his own Cabinet urged Sharon to reverse that order.

The criticism has mounted as attacks on Israelis have continued under the policy. In a Tuesday session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, several lawmakers criticized Sharon for continuing the cease-fire. On Thursday, Housing Minister Natan Scharansky told The Jerusalem Post that Israelis should prepare for war.

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Israeli officials held Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat responsible for Friday's bombing, saying he has failed to restrain Palestinian attacks on Israelis. Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh said Israel needed to take "harsh measures" to respond to the attack.

"The rules of the game should be changed," Sneh said. "The restraint we've imposed on ourselves now has to be removed. This is an attack at the heart of Tel Aviv against teen-agers who were just out to dance. This is a strategic offensive, and we have to respond promptly in order to protect our citizens."

Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin told CNN that Israel remains "committed to the cease-fire" and "committed to peace." But he warned that "Today, I think a red line was crossed." Gissin warned that Arafat was "playing with a book of matches in a tinderbox."

Both the Israelis and Palestinians have accepted, in principle, an international committee's report on how to stop violence in the Middle East. But they disagree on how to implement it.

The Mitchell Committee report calls for a freeze on Jewish settlement activity, including what the Israelis call the "natural growth" of the settlements. It also calls on the Palestinians to crack down on terrorism.

Sharon offered the cease-fire the day after the Mitchell Committee released its report at the United Nations. But Palestinian leaders have called the offer a sham: Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian's senior negotiator, said Wednesday that Israel has continued to strike at Palestinian positions in the West Bank and Gaza during that time.

"We need to see the words of the Israeli government matched with deeds on the ground," Erekat said.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon's rival within the conservative Likud party, predicted the cease-fire would end when Sharon's security Cabinet meets Saturday morning.

"We will not allow this war of terrorism that Arafat has waged, and we have the means to stop it," Netanyahu said.