Carter Decides Against Providing Saudis with Equipment to Enhance Capability of 60 U.S. F-15s

President Carter has decided that his Administration will not provide equipment to enhance the range and combat capability of the 60 American F-15 fighters provided to Saudi Arabia.

The President made known his decision in a radio interview with RKO General Broadcasting Friday. The transcript was made available on the Presidential press plane. Political observers here pointed out that the decision, which has been delayed since last spring, was an apparent policy change aimed at reassuring Jewish voters in the last few days before the Presidential election.

Carter said in the interview, “There will be absolutely no change in the assurance given to the Congress in 1978 by (Defense) Secretary (Harold) Brown, acting under my instructions, on the sale of F-15s to the Saudi Arabians. In accordance with those assurances, we will not agree to provide offensive capabilities for the planes that might be used against Israel.”

Brown told Congress two years ago in seeking to obtain Congressional approval for the sale of the 60 planes that the planes would not be improved to the point where they could menace Israel. Friends of Israel pointed out that the planes could be used even without the additional bomb racks and refueling equipment against Israel and that the additional equipment would enable them to fly long-range missions against Israel and be even a greater threat.

DECISION MIGHT BE OVERTURNED AFTER NOV. 4

The Pentagon and the State Department both said in the past months that the additional equipment would not be a menace to Israel and stressed that altered circumstances in the Middle East required that Saudi Arabia be allowed the additional equipment.

While the President said Friday he would not provide offensive capability for those planes “that might be used against Israel,” some observers noted that this decision might be overturned after the election.

Notional Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezin-ski, who, like Brown, favored the equipment for Saudi Arabia, said privately recently that the Saudi request would be approved next year, with the implication that this would happen if Carter were reelected.

WILL NOT PERMIT ISRAEL’S ISOLATION

Carter was also quoted over the weekend as making a pledge on the U.S. stand in the United Notions. “Whenever in the future the United Notions is misused or abused on Israeli-Arab issues with malicious, unfair and one sided resolutions we will oppose them and in the Security Council we will veto them, ” he said, “I want to make it clear again that we will not permit any isolation of Israel in other United Notions organizations nor will we allow the UN to be used as a propaganda organ for the Palestine Liberation Organization.”

Meanwhile, in Belgrade, the 21st General Conference of UNESCO adopted a resolution to assist the PLO and other “liberation movements” in improving their propaganda capability. The U.S. representative, William Harley, backed by the British and West Germany, warned that this resolution and other budget resolutions pushed through by the Soviet and Third World bloc countries, would cause “widespread political problems” and “move UNESCO in a most unhelpful direction.”

PLO chief Yasir Arafat is scheduled to address the conference tomorrow on a resolution denouncing Israel.