Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Andy Slaughter (Labour) on Friday, 8 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 October 2010. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Monday, 18 October 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Israel: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer to the then Member for Milton Keynes South West of 18 March 2010, Official Report, column 973W, on the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation and Development: Israel, what further progress has been made in resolving the outstanding issues relating to the scope of statistical data provided by the Israeli authorities to the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation and Development.
Answer

Israeli accession to the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) does not demonstrate an acceptance of illegal settlements or stand in the way of Palestinian statehood. Israel put forward statistics which include areas which are deemed by the UK and the wider international community to be occupied territory. However, the OECD Secretariat have included the following footnote regarding Israeli data in all pre- and post-accession reports that use Israeli data. The UK worked to agree this with EU and OECD partners in order to ensure clarity on the status of the Occupied Palestinian Territories."““This report/review/document is not intended to cover the territories known as the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. However, for technical reasons, it uses Israel's official statistics, which include data relating to the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. It is without prejudice to positions regarding those territories, which most members of the international community regard as occupied territory under the terms of international law.””"

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
16720; 516 c494-5W
Session
2010-12
Related items
Israel: OECD
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Israel
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk