Israel has a very good chance of being voted into the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development next week.

The finance ministers of the 30 OECD countries are meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday next week in Paris and are expected to vote in favor of the proposal. Washington for one has expressed its support.

The list of candidates seeking to join the OECD includes Chile, Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa, Cyprus, and European countries that have recently joined the European Union. The organization last expanded its membership in 1995.

The big guns

Oded Brook, senior deputy director and General Head of International Affairs at the Finance Ministry , says that acceptance would be a coup for Israel, both economically and diplomatically.

"We have been firing all the guns at our disposal, as it were, for a long time, to persuade the OECD members to support us," Brook said. "First and foremost was the super-cannon, Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer."

Brook said that the foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's ambassadors and all the directors-general of the ministries had joined the effort as well.

"Israeli representatives met with the finance ministers of all the countries in the organization, with all the ambassadors in Paris of the countries belonging to the OECD, and all their ambassadors in Israel," Brook describes, saying the answers they received were encouraging. "Our chances are excellent. Only Chile stand shareholders assembly higher chance."

In the past New Zealand objected to Israel joining the organization, because of human-rights issues, Brook said. But it has rescinded its objection.

A bigger OECD? Not so fast

Whether its ranks should be extended, and if so how, is in dispute within the OECD. The European Union countries seek to accept all of the new members of the union, including the Baltic countries, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta, though not all meet the criteria for acceptance.

However, other OECD members, including Canada, Australia and the U.S., object, saying the OECD will become a European organization. 

Israel has invested a great deal of money and effort in gaining acceptance to the OECD. Joining the organization is more than just a measure of prestige - though an important benefit in itself.  

If accepted, Israel will officially join a group of the most developed countries in the world, and be a part of all that this entails economically, both internally and externally. 

OECD membership is a bona fide stamp of quality for investment houses, foreign investors, international credit rating firms, economic organizations and companies. Membership in the group will require Israel (and in fact already does) to follow international rules and standards, and will help the treasury in promoting economic reforms. 

The Israeli capital market will be among the first to benefit. Raising capital, both by companies and the government, will cost less. Investment banks, pension funds and other economic bodies that have stayed away from Israel up until now, will start investing in the country.  

Israel's standing in international forums will be reestablished. And among other things, Israel will become a full partner in the establishment of new international standards. 

In a world made up of families of nations and economic and currency blocs, we will be a part of a large, important and powerful organization.

OECD membership also carries repercussions that will make some in Israel unhappy, including adoption of international standards regarding intellectual property rights, money laundering and graft.

Although some Israelis might find the claim odd, Israel will not be the only one to benefit from joining - the OECD itself is set to gain from the move as well. Israel is a world leader in combining advanced technology with farming and in biotechnology - areas important to the OECD.  

Israel is considered an expert in the problem of desertification, solar energy use and research and development methodology. Moreover, Israel's acceptance will support the efforts of the non-European countries concerned with preventing European countries from gaining control of the organization.