1.   A country like Israel, which belongs to no regional caucus, never gets an opportunity to vie for a seat.

2.   That means it cannot hold a rotating Security Council seat or important committee positions, which are filled through nominations from regional caucuses.

3.   The Israelis, barred from Arab and Asian regional caucuses, have campaigned to be admitted to a group of European and other countries.

4.   Traditionally, once a regional caucus names a country, it is assured of election.

5.   In Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday that a controversial regional caucus that he has proposed will be discussed at the ASEAN summit.