Steninitz hails decision; Pro-Palestinian groups plan protest.
Israel got the go-ahead to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development at a meeting of representatives of the 31 member countries in Paris on Monday afternoon.
At the OECD meeting, the representatives were presented with an update on the status of membership bids, and voted unanimously to accept Israel as the 32nd member.
The official announcement of accession will be announced at the OECD’s annual ministerial council meeting in Paris on May 26-May 28.
Speaking to Army Radio, Finance Minister Yuval Steninitz hailed the decision as being of "immense importance," saying it had both economic and political value.
Pro-Palestinian groups planned protests at the OECD’s Paris base, and Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said on Sunday that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was trying to block Israel’s entry.
The PA sent a letter to OECD nations asking them to postpone Israel’s membership bid.
Accepting Israel "would be like accepting its occupation of the Palestinian territories," read the letter, which was posted on the PA Foreign Ministry Web site.
Ben-Eliezer criticized Fayyad’s attempts to block Israel and said the letter came at a time when "Israel wants to open indirect talks to reach an agreement and conciliation between our nations."
A spokesman for Fayyad was not immediately available for comment.
As part of the process of OECD accession, Israel has had to comply with the norms and standards upheld by the 31 OECD member countries in the fields of financial markets, anti-corruption legislation, technology and innovation, and investment.
In the final stage over the past few months, the organization has come to agreements with Israel on ways to tackle three critical issues: anti-corruption policy measures, in particular in the defense industry; compliance with intellectual property legislation common in OECD member countries; and the exclusion of statistics relating to territories that are not considered part of the country.
Membership in the OECD, which includes the major players in the global economy, will enhance Israel’s ability to conduct an ongoing dialogue with representatives of these economies; force an upgrade in Israel’s public administration; improve Israel’s corporate management, and reduce Israel’s risk premium and help attract investment.
Bloomberg contributed to this report.