Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he had "instructed authorized authorities" to consider designating the northern branch of the Islamic Movement as an illegal organization.

Haaretz revealed about a month ago that Netanyahu was working to have the faction, led by radical cleric Sheikh Ra'ad Salah, declared illegal in a manner similar to the designation of Rabbi Meir Kahane's Kach movement as a terror group in 1994. The prime minister's remarks Sunday the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem indicate that he has put the plans into action.

Netanyahu issued his remarks in connection to demonstrations held over the weekend in the Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm against the current Israel Defense Forces operation in the West Bank. The premier said he deplored the calls for the abduction of soldiers that were heard during the demonstrations and called on the heads of the Arab community to denounce them.

Netanyahu first raised the idea to outlaw the branch during a government discussion on the establishment of a special ministerial committee on minorities.

Netanyahu said at the time that an inter-ministerial team was investigating the issue, but was informed by cabinet secretary Avihai Mandelblit that the team was stuck due to the opposition of the justice ministry.

Netanyahu said in response that as there had been no problem outlawing the extremist Jewish Kach movement in the past, there was no reason not to do the same with Salah's movement.

The political-security cabinet decided a few months ago declare the so-called "price tag" activists, right-wing Jews who vandalize Arab, Palestinian and Israeli property over their opposition to the state's policy in the settlements, as an illegal grouping.

That definition, which is less severe than defining a group as a terror organization, enables law enforcement to impose stringent conditions, such as longer detention periods, preventing meetings with attorneys, holding suspects until the conclusion of proceedings against them and confiscating their possessions.

"Most of the country's Arab citizens do not call for the abduction of soldiers and I call on their leaders to take a clear and courageous stand in denouncing such statements," Netanyahu said on Sunday. "As citizens of Israel, we cannot accept calls to abduct Israeli soldiers, who defend us all. In many cases, the source of those calls is the northern wing of the Islamic Movement, which constantly incites against Israel and whose people identify with terror organizations like Hamas."

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman commended the prime minister for the order, and said that existing law should be employed to stop calls to abduct soldiers as heard in the demonstration.

"We expect the legal system to do it immediately and effectively, in order to make clear that Israeli society will not tolerate such incitement," he said.