in order to break up the contiguity of Palestinian areas and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying: "Let everyone get a move on and take some hilltops! Whatever we take, will be ours, and whatever we don't take, will not be ours!" The report did not mention Sharon, however. Nevertheless, the report prompted calls that Sharon and other former and current government officials face legal repercussions for their alleged official involvement in the funding of illegal settlements. Settler leaders have rejected criticism of illegality and wrongdoing, protesting that they were participating in officially sanctioned community planning initiatives. According to the Sasson Report, the establishment of an outpost requires government approval. However, such a regulation was not put in place until 6 December 2004, when Attorney General Menachem Mazuz issued the directive. Until then, according to the , a group of pro-settlement attorneys, the status of an outpost was regulated in accordance with Government Resolution 150 from 2 August 1996, which stipulated that the Defense Minister had the authority to authorize new outpost communities. According to the Land of Israel Legal Forum, nearly all of the Jewish neighborhoods deemed "unauthorized" by Talia Sasson were established before Mazuz’s 2004 stipulation and are therefore, in fact, legally authorized. Such an argument has yet to be legally established. Sasson recommended that Sharon consider criminal investigations against those suspected of involvement. Reactions Palestinian officials reacted angrily to the report. "It is time for the international community to say 'enough' to Israel and work with the same determination as on other matters," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. A US embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv also repeated Washington's longstanding call for Israel to remove the outposts. Settler leader Shaul Goldstein said Mr Sharon should be the one to face questioning over the report's findings, adding "It's obvious that the one who sent us in order to protect the roads and land is the prime minister so he should look in the mirror. Mr Sharon has to be questioned - not us." According to the Haaretz newspaper, Herzog claimed that "the main responsibility for the building of illegal outposts in recent years falls with my predecessor, Effi Eitam and his director general." He also added that when he took up the position earlier this year, he ordered that no funds be transferred to the illegal outposts, as well as the establishment of a joint Defense