Congressmen Call on Nixon to Reconsider Phantom Sale to Saudi Arabia

Thirty-two Congressmen have asked President Nixon to reconsider the proposed sale of Phantom jets to Saudi Arabia because “We are particularly fearful of the possibility of a transfer of these planes from Saudi Arabia to Egypt.”

The letter was delivered to the White House by one of the signatories. Rep. Bertram L. Podell (D.NY). It cautioned that Saudi Arabia has spoken of the need to destroy Israel and said that American jets in Arab hands could set back peace prospects in the Middle East and in fact encourage the Arabs to make war.

The letter noted that Egypt reportedly received French Mirage jets from Libya despite a stipulation in the Franco-Libyan purchase agreement that they were not to be transferred to a third power. “There is every reason to believe that any no-transfer clause in the American-Saudi Arabian sales agreement would be more honored in the breach than in the observance,” the Congressmen said.

(In Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Abba Eban cautioned the Knesset today “not to lose its balance” over the safe of American Phantoms to Saudi Arabia. Eban spoke in reply to a motion by Dov Milman of the Gahal opposition. “We should not see developments in the world around us as if Israel were helpless at the mercy of vast enemy powers–though we must carefully deal with these developments,” Eban said.)