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Israel took a major step toward enhancing its position in the global economy by gaining acceptance on May 10 into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a forum of the world's most developed democracies.

The OECD's three new members -- Israel, Estonia, and Slovenia -- were invited to open accession talks in 2007, and over the last three years 18 OECD committees reviewed the countries' compliance with OECD standards and benchmarks before member countries held a vote this week. Israel, which was accepted unanimously, will make positive contributions to OECD because its "scientific and technological policies have produced outstanding outcomes on a world scale," the organization said.

It took Israel many years to join the Paris-based OCED, which was founded in 1961 and now has 34 members, because "we had to develop," Joel Lion, consul for media affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York, told The Jewish State. Then, once Israel was not only developed but a global leader in technological advancement, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to take steps such as reforming the practices of NGOs, trade unions, and the public sector to match OECD standards, as well as signing onto the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2009, Lion explained.

"It's to be a part of the developed world, and we worked very hard in order to be accepted to this organization," Lion said of joining OECD.

"It means that for us, it will help our economy, the function of the public sector, of the bank sector," he said, adding that membership will help Israel attract more investors.

Avigdor Liberman, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, said in a statement that acceptance into OECD is a "stamp of approval" for Israel's economy and its achievements in technology. Lieberman emphasized that OECD's resolution to accept Israel was unanimous, showing Israel's "solid standing" within the international community despite "fierce incitement against it in every conceivable arena: political, security, and economic."

Lion said that specifically, Ireland, Switzerland, and Norway had initial doubts about Israel's inclusion in OECD because of the treatment of Palestinians in the "occupied territories." Before the accession, both the Palestinian National Authority and the Council of Palestinian Human Rights Organizations had sent letters to OECD nations asking them to block Israel's membership on the grounds of human rights violations.

"In short, Israel is responsible for egregious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the [occupied Palestinian territories]," the letter from the Council of Palestinian Human Rights Organizations stated. "Its behavior is not only contrary to international law but is inconsistent with the values of the OECD."

Israel, however, "explained [to OECD nations] that there shouldn't be the linkage between politics and the economic issue," Lion said, and the vote in favor of the country's acceptance was unanimous.

To gain membership, Israel had to agree to implement OECD's stated goals, which are to: support sustainable economic growth, boost employment, raise living standards, maintain financial stability, assist other countries' economic development, and contribute to growth in world trade.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria said the acceptance of three new countries was a "new chapter in the history of [OECD]" that "confirms our global vocation as the group of countries that search for answers to the global challenges, and establish standards in many policy fields such as environment, trade, innovation or social issues."

"All three countries have been receptive to OECD recommendations on important issues and the membership talks have been constructive and open," Gurria said in a statement. "The OECD accession process has delivered real policy changes and reform in all candidate countries. Once countries become members, this transformational process continues."

Granting membership to the countries was also an acknowledgement of "the efforts already made to reform their economies, including in such areas as combating corruption, protecting intellectual property rights and ensuring high standards of corporate governance, while looking forward to further reforms," OECD said.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said the Bush and Obama administrations were both instrumental in helping Israel secure accession to OECD. Congress also played an important role in the process, AIPAC noted. In 2005, the House of Representatives approved a resolution of support for Israel's acceptance, co-authored by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and the late U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) wrote a similar resolution that was unanimously approved by the Senate in 2007.

"Building on work begun during the Bush administration, the current administration was instrumental in gaining Israel's accession to this exclusive economic body," AIPAC said. "Both administrations actively promoted Israel's admission and successfully fought attempts to politicize and derail Israel's membership."

Jewish National Fund (JNF) said that Israel fits the bill of an OECD member because the country "has a long history of assisting developing nations in Africa and the Far East," with much of that assistance accomplished through JNF initiatives in areas such as managing open spaces and forests, halting desertification processes, reclaiming streams and rivers, and conserving soil and water.

"Israel does so much to make the world a better place," Joe Hess, JNF vice president of government relations, said in a statement. "Now the full breadth of Israel's technology will be shared with those interested in improving the lives of their constituents."