Israeli Cabinet: Palestinian Authority supports terror

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- After more than five hours of closed-door talks, the Israeli Cabinet early Tuesday called the Palestinian Authority a "terrorist-supporting entity" that must be dealt with as such.

"The government determines the lethal and cruel terror attacks over the last weekend shows the lack of inhibition of our enemies and calls for a larger scale activity than has been taken to date against Palestinian terror," the Cabinet said in a statement.

Eighteen Cabinet ministers supported the declaration, one voted against it and one abstained, according to Israeli radio. The Labor Party did not vote in the final declaration.

Senior Labor Party member and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said the Cabinet was moving too quickly to condemn the Palestinian Authority.

"Yesterday there was an attempt to make a decision to bring down the Palestinian Authority and in effect the Israeli policy would lean on power with no political hope," Peres said. "Since the Labor Party's demand for an organized debate on such as essential question was rejected there was no other option but not to participate in the vote."

In asking for a one-week delay, Peres said he wanted to give Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a chance to show he was cracking down on extremists.

Peres said Labor Party members will meet to determine future steps within the Israeli government.

The Cabinet declaration came after Israel pounded Palestinian targets in Gaza and the West Bank and moved tanks to within striking distance of the office where President Yasser Arafat was working.

Israel said the attacks were in retaliation for suicide bombings that killed 25 Israelis, all but one of them civilians and many of them young people.

"The Israeli government determines the Palestinian Authority is a terrorist-supporting entity and action must be taken in accordance," the Cabinet declaration said.

The statement said the ministers for national security are able to make operative decisions regarding military, political, financial and media matters, as long as the prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister are included in the decisions.

"This will change if the Palestinian Authority fulfills its commitments by the agreements by preventing and stopping terror, punishing terrorists and the dismembering of the terrorists' infrastructure," the Cabinet said.

The Cabinet also said it considers Arafat's elite guard, Force 17, and Tanzim, a Palestinian group loyal to Arafat's Fatah faction, as "terror organizations, and the activity against them will be in accordance."