Israel joins group of world's richest countries

The group of the world’s richest nations, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, has accepted Israel as a member.

Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the move was “historic”.

He added: “It gives legitimacy to Israel as an advanced and developed country.”

But Israel’s trade minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer accused the Palestinian Authority of trying to derail the bid. The PA had written to the OECD urging them to delay the vote on whether to accept Israel.