April 23, 1981

International U.S. commitment to Israel's security was reaffirmed by the Reagan Administration after protests from the Israeli Government and Israeli diplomats in Washington over the Administration's announcement that it would sell arms to Saudi Arabia. Israel is especially against the proposed sale of five Awacs surveillance planes. After a meeting in Jerusalem with the United States Ambassador, Samuel Lewis, Prime Minister Menachem Begin said ''the Government of Israel expressed deep pain and unqualified opposition'' to the arms deal. (Page A1, Column 6.) Senator Jesse Helms was challenged by the White House in his efforts to have a person of his choice named assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began confirmation hearings on key State Department appointments. The White House nominated Thomas O. Enders, a career diplomat and economic specialist with no Latin American experience. Senator Helms, who indicated he would oppose Mr. Enders, has put forward Louis Tambs, a professor at Arizona State University and a former contractor in Latin America. (A1:5.)

Nabisco Inc. and Standard Brands Inc., two of the country's largest producers of packaged foods, announced yesterday that they would merge into a new company to be known as Nabisco Brands Inc. The transaction will involve an exchange of stock with an estimated value of more than $2 billion. Robert M. Schaeberle, Nabisco's 58-year-old chairman and chief executive officer, will become chairman and chief executive officer of the combined corporation. F.Ross Johnson, 49, the chairman and chief executive officer of Standard Brands, will become the new company's president, chief operating officer and executive committee chairman. Nabisco and Standard Brands said in a joint statement yesterday that they would keep their separate identities. Both companies make many highly advertised food products that receive major display in the nation's food stores. Standard Brands' sales totaled $3.02 billion last year, while Nabisco's sales were $2.57 billion.

An analysis by the Office of Management and Budget has found that the impact of President Reagan's proposed budget reductions will fall equally on each region of the country and not disproportionately on the Northeast and Middle West, as some Congressional critics are contending. The study, which began soon after the economic proposals were submitted to Congress in mid-February, is expected to be made public at a news conference tomorrow afternoon by David A. Stockman, the budget director. Based on past spending patterns in affected programs, the budget analysts predicted a ''virtually equal'' effect on each region. Per-Capita Calculations The analysts calculated that in the Northeast and the South the reductions would amount to $170 per capita; in the West, $168, and in the Middle West, $158.

The way our porch looked in winter was the way they all looked: tarpaulin on the glider, wicker chairs turned to face and lean on the wall, a few snow-coned flower pots. In late April, but never earlier because spring is elusive in New England, the tarp was taken to the attic, the chairs were righted and windowsill plants were carried out for sunbaths. But I cannot recall people sitting on their porches in daylight. It was toward evening that the porch sitters appeared, invisible audiences for those on the stage that was the sidewalk, audible only in the squeak of a glider or the scratch of a match. Most of the time I was on stage - going to the drugstore or the library before they closed at 9, coming home from supper at a friend's - but there were many nights when I sat with the grown-ups, as silent and as watchful as they.

A trial judge in the Bronx has accused the office of the New York City Corporation Counsel of ''atrocious conduct'' and a ''gross miscarriage of justice'' in the defense of a million-dollar lawsuit that charges the city with malicious prosecution. The judge - Justice Louis Fusco Jr. of State Supreme Court - said Allen G. Schwartz's office had ''violated a multitude of rules'' and failed to have a lawyer ready to defend the suit despite the granting of repeated adjournments. In a 75-page opinion published this week, Justice Fusco refused a request from Mr. Schwartz's office that he rescind a Jan. 26 ruling in which he had entered a judgment of default against the city. Justice Herbert Shapiro, also of State Supreme Court in the Bronx, had held a nonjury damages hearing in February following the default. On Monday, he awarded $250,000 to the plaintiff, Miguel Colon. Mr. Colon, a 43-year-old unemployed house painter from the Bronx, was jailed for 21 months on a murder indictment before the charges were dismissed in 1975.