Israel accepted into OECD

Finance minister says new membership is 'stamp of approval', will attract foreign investments

The Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) accepted Israel into its ranks Monday during a vote, as its 32nd member.

Finance minister says chances appear good in 2010, MK Tibi says OECD should reject Israel because it does not treat Arab citizens equally Full Story

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, currently in China, received an unofficial message from the organization, and an official statement will be made in Paris in the afternoon.

The official invitation is to be handed to Steinitz at a convention of the OECD's finance ministers in Paris at the end of the month. Slovenia and Estonia were also accepted as members Monday.

"The significance of this is huge and that is why, as a matter of fact, I decided to treat it as a top priority 10 months ago and enter into a special program to introduce Israel into the organization at a peak time," Steinitz told Israel Radio.

"It is the most respectable international club a small state like Israel can be accepted into," he added. "From what we know about other states, in the years following the acceptance there is a rise of billions of dollars in foreign investments in the state accepted."

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As Alan Dershowitz notes, over the strident objection of truely advanced economic states like Spain. Dershowitz: Jews initiate legal terror against Israel

2 posted on 05/11/2010 5:56:24 AM PDT by SJackson (Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided, Barack Hussein Obama)

"It is the most respectable international club a small state like Israel can be accepted into,"

"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members."
-- Groucho Marx

3 posted on 05/11/2010 5:59:06 AM PDT by EternalVigilance (Make full use of the First, so we aren't forced to exercise the tools of the Second.)

We treat Arab citizens (ie, Israeli Arabs) a good deal better than any Arab state ever has.

4 posted on 05/11/2010 3:53:43 PM PDT by Eleutheria5 ( Two-state solution: A bad idea whose time has gone.)

This a great recognition for Israel.

No arab members of the OECD, and only 1 islamic country (Turkey).

Probably due to the lack of commitment to democracy. And the fact that they are not developed.

5 posted on 05/12/2010 11:24:26 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy ("It's not the number of burnt cars that worries me. It's the fact that everyone finds this normal..")

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