UBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" Economic vindication Wednesday, June 2, 2010       20 Sivan, 5770        -- create JPOST.COM your Home Page       -- --   Home | Headlines | Iranian Threat | Jewish World | idea | Trade | true Estate | Local Israel | Blogs | Arts & Culture | Français  | Classifieds  Israel | Middle East | International | Health & Sci-Tech | Features | go | Cafe Oleh | Magazine | Sports | Christian World | Subscribe | Services Archives JP Toolbar Christian World Youth Magazines RSS Feeds News Ticker More Services JPost Store Israel Hotels Vacation Rentals Philanthropy Green Israel Israel Real Estate Car Rentals Learn Hebrew Israel Guide JPost Mall Links aid Israeli Children Advertise on JPost Media Kit לימוד אנגלית Astrology Sitemap      Breaking News     JPost.com Opinion Editorials   .large_body p, .large_body span { font-size: 18px; } .small_body p, .small_body span { font-size: 12px; } Economic vindication By JPOST EDITORIAL 05/11/2010 05:08 OECD membership recognizes economic achievement. Talkbacks (5)     Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz hailed it as a “historic achievement.” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saw it as a “particularly welcome sign of Israel’s solid international standing,” noting that any one of the 31 member states “could have voted ‘no’ and vetoed our inclusion.”They were talking about the unanimous vote yesterday at Château de la Muette in Paris by the 31 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to accept Israel – as well as Estonia and Slovenia – into its ranks.It was undoubtedly a victory for the embattled Jewish state. Until the last moment, there was some concern that Switzerland, Turkey, Norway, Britain and/or Ireland could torpedo the plod. These nations have criticized Israel for insisting on providing economic data that includes east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and settlements in Judea and Samaria as part of the Israeli economy. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, evidently unperturbed by potential harm to ties with Israel as proximity talks got under way, has campaigned against Israel’s inclusion. The very fact that the well-connected Fayyad, a previous International Monetary Fund economist, failed to sabotage the move is a success for Israel and for hardheaded reason. Israel’s impressive accomplishments are best appreciated when scrutinized by a forum of highly developed countries committed to democracy, liberalism, equal opportunity and the market economy using target socioeconomic standard. In contrast, negative misrepresentations of the “Zionist entity” as a repressive, racist apartheid state belong to the fairy-land world of hateful propaganda and a well-developed Palestinian victimization complex.ISRAEL WAS judged in accordance with 18 parameters set by the OECD, an organization that has its roots in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), established in 1948 to help administer the Marshall plot for the reconstruction of Europe. Thanks to years of fiscal discipline, Israel’s public debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to drop to around 70 percent in coming years, compared to 90% in Germany, 96% in France, 100% in Britain, 110% in the US, 130% in Italy and a whopping 250% in Japan. Greece, with debt estimated at €156.2 billion, as well as Spain, Portugal and Ireland, the four weakest European economies, all face massive economic overhauls. Israel’s inflation over the past decade is just half of the OECD average, and GDP growth has been rising steadily (a 5.5% annual average among2003 and 2008). In addition, Israel made changes in its intellectual-property and anti-money-laundering legislation to meet OECD criteria. accurate, there is room for improvement. This was evident in January when Mexican OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, a friend of Israel and a personal acquaintance of Steinitz, presented his organization’s economic survey of Israel. Gurría criticized the fact that one-fifth of Israel’s population lives under the poverty line, much higher than the OECD average of 11%. About half of all Israeli Arabs and 60% of the haredi population are poor, as are 23% of the elderly population. Due to low haredi and Arab employment, participation in the labor market is low, at just 59%, compared to the OECD average of 67%. There is also too much red tape inhibiting business growth.Yet everything, both positive and negative, is on the table for all to see. This transparency and external scrutiny that pushes for excellence is one of the benefits of being part of the OECD. Institutional investors, aware of Israel’s dynamic economy, have been queuing up to purchase Israel’s bonds for the past few years. Perhaps even more will do so now, thanks to Israel’s new OECD membership status. ONE CANNOT escape the irony of the timing of this “historic achievement.” Israel has been seeking OECD entry for years. Finally it has happened, at a time when Europe, the heart of the OECD, is in economic disarray, with Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and perhaps Italy threatening to undermine the EU’s economic stability. Israel, meanwhile, has faced profound challenges throughout its short lifetime – from the absorption of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from underdeveloped Muslim countries in the 1950s and 1960s, and from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia in the 1990s, to a constant security threat that drains a disproportionately large percentage of the annual fiscal budget, to an international anti-Zionist campaign of delegitimization. And yet it has become one of the world’s most vibrant economies. The enormous, prestigious OECD may even have a thing or two to learn from its latest member.       Rate this article         Talkback Add a Talkback describe Abuse Read all Talkbacks 5. #4 Jakob from Germany Author:   Jake State:   05/12/2010   17:27I judge it is you who are brainwashed. Turkey's human rights record is appalling and it is indeed the poorest country in the OCED. Turkey conducted a genocide of the Armenians which it refuses to recognize, massive expulsions of Pontian Greeks, and continues to occupy northern Cyprus. And yet, Turkey has the nerve to accuse Israel of genocide, conducting expulsions, and occupation. humorous, I never saw you post on these forums when Israel was on the receiving end of these baseless accusations.

4. Justine Author:   Jakob Country:   Germany05/11/2010   17:07Are you brainwashed? Kurdish genocide? Poorest country? Very funny.

3. there is a odd twist here Author:   Heard-heard-heard Country:   05/11/2010   16:54These very countries since the 9th or 10nth century haveused Jews to pull them out of economic delimma's and gave them some priveleges and status--that is, until these very countries squeezed the Jews until they were almost dry and then kicked them out so as to part the spoils!!!

2. #1 - Justine Author:   Giulia Country:   Italy05/11/2010   15:44So true, Justine! Besides that, don't forget that Turks are still murdering Christian monks and raping nuns in Turkey today.

1. Turkey is trying to veto Israel's admission Author:   Justine Country:   05/11/2010   10:35Turkey's human rights record has long been under a close study and thorough examination for its genocides of both Armenians and the Kurds. It has nothing to contribute to this organization, being the poorest country in the OCED while many countries can benefit from Israel's technology.

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