1.   If he appoints a militant like Ariel Sharon, who is passionate about enlarging the settlements, business people will worry about reviving Palestinian tensions.

2.   One of them is whether Israel, as the Mitchell report proposes, should suspend plans to enlarge existing settlements on the West Bank.

3.   But the freeze excluded West Bank land around Jerusalem and allowed settlers to enlarge existing settlements at their own expense.

4.   Egypt, the chief mediator in the Mideast peace talks, warned Israel on Monday that enlarging Jewish settlements endangered the negotiations with the PLO.

5.   He stressed that Israel would not create new settlements in the territories, seize new land or enlarge existing settlements, or put government funds into building new settlements.

6.   But at the time Netanyahu stressed the decision in the short term concerned enlarging existing settlements and not creating new Jewish towns in the Palestinian areas.

7.   It was the second time in less than a week that Israeli security forces clashed with settlers over unauthorized attempts to enlarge West Bank settlements.

8.   Peres said the Israeli cabinet had decided not to build any new settlements, not to confiscate land to enlarge existing settlements or invest public money in other extensions.