She was also asked to make recommendations for changes to legislation and administrative or law-enforcement policies to prevent the establishment and continued activity of outposts and to assist in their evacuation.

Delivered in March 2005, Sasson's over 340-page report presented a scathing indictment of the conduct of all Israeli governmental bodies active in the West Bank – including the Israeli Police, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the Civil Administration, and the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Housing, and the World Zionist Organization's Settlements Division – and their systematic abrogation of their responsibilities to abide by or enforce the law. The report also confirmed the active collusion and collaboration of some elements of these agencies in the illegal actions of the settlers, with Sasson noting that "it seems that the lawbreaking has become institutionalized and institutional." Her report stated:

"The 'engine' behind a decision to establish outposts are regional councils in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, settlers and activists, imbued with ideology and motivation to increase Israeli settlement in the Judea, Samaria and Gaza territories. Some of the officials working in the Settlement Division of the World Zionist Organization, and in the Ministry of Construction & Housing, cooperated with them to promote the unauthorized outposts phenomenon. These actions were apparently inspired by different Ministers of Housing in the relevant times, either by overlooking or by actual encouragement and support, with additional support from other Ministries, initiated either by officials or by the political echelon of each Ministry.

"The result was that the executive echelon, so to speak, became the deciding echelon, with no authorization, in contrary to government resolutions, bearing no political or public responsibility, which by nature of things rests upon the political echelon. All of this with massive financing by the State of Israel, with no appropriate transparency, no criteria.

"The establishment of unauthorized outposts violates standard procedure, good governing rules, and especially (constitutes) an ongoing bold law violation. Furthermore, the State authorities speak two voices. Sometimes grant, and sometimes prevent. Rules have become flexible. One hand builds outposts, the other invests money and force to evacuate them. These actions were not done by individuals only. The problem is (that) State and public authorities took part in breaking the law. They are the ones who financed construction without a resolution by the political echelon, in contrary to government resolutions, with no legal planning status, sometimes not on State owned land, sometimes on private Palestinian property or on survey land. State authorities and public authorities broke the laws, regulations and rules made by the State."

The official summary of the Sasson Report is available here.

What were the recommendations of the Sasson Report and were they implemented?

Sasson concluded her report with recommendations she categorized into several classes:

1. Budgetary and organizational considerations,
2. Reform of Israeli Government orders,
3. Administrative decisions to be adopted by state agencies,
4. Amendment to existing legislation to clarify the government's authority to punish law breakers associated with the establishment of outposts,
5. Reform of martial law (since the West Bank is classified as an occupied area, the law Israel applies there derives from military orders), and
6. Recommendation to the state persecutor.

Included in Sasson's report was a recommended that all outposts built on Palestinian-owned land (she identified at least 15 such outposts) be dismantled immediately. In addition, she called for (among other things): terminating the activities of the WZO's Settlement Division under its present mandate; prohibiting the Housing Ministry from planning the establishment of a settlement or neighborhood in existing settlements without prior political approval; reconsidering the position of the Defense Minister's Assistant for Settlement Affairs; and prohibiting the defense minister from connecting outposts to electricity and water supplies. In making these recommendations, Sasson noted:

"The government must take into its hands responsibility for what is happening in the outposts in the territories and not sit on the sidelines watching as the settlers do whatever they want, without anyone stopping them. They are all illegal. It is important to emphasize that it's not merely to evacuate the outposts but to cease the entire procedure of budgeting and transferring state funds to the outposts. The very heart of the report is about the enforcement of the law, which is not a political issue, but a legal one, of tremendous importance for a democratic state."

On March 13th, 2005, in the context of its weekly meeting, the Israeli Cabinet dealt with the recommendations of the Sasson Report. The Cabinet subsequently nominated a committee of nine ministers, headed by Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni, to consider ways to implement some of the recommendations. This ministerial committee was tasked with presenting its own recommendations 90 days after it was created (i.e., June 2005).

As of January 2006, the committee has failed to present any recommendations. To the best of our knowledge, none of the recommendations which Sasson offered have yet been adopted. As a result, on the ground settlers still enjoy the same ability to act with almost total impunity which they have enjoyed for decades. Speaking at Ben Gurion University on June 5, 2005, Ms. Sasson noted:

"Since the report was submitted, nothing has happened. It was well publicized, and that's good, but everything is continuing. Perhaps the Housing Ministry has closed a few taps, but there has been no operative decision and construction continues in the outposts. The goal of the report was to end the illegal construction…This is not a matter of political outlook; we are talking about the state violating its own laws, and when a state's own authorities break the law, this is a severe blow to the rule of law. When such things happen, the democratic system is liable to be undermined."