More than fifty years ago, Israel did the unthinkable! It attacked a US Navy warship, USS Liberty, in the Mediterranean Sea.
The incident took place during the Six-Day War and has since remained an indelible blot on the otherwise strong US-Israel relations.
The Six-Day War began on June 5 with Israel launching preemptive air strikes that destroyed the majority of Egyptian fighter jets on the ground. The war was fought between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.
By June 10, Israel had captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
The US did not provide direct military support, such as troops or air support, during the Six-Day War, and declared itself neutral “in thought and deed” instead. However, Israel had been armed to the teeth by Washington in the early 1960s.
Fortunately, that sufficed, and Israel was able to achieve rapid victories in the war, eliminating the need for emergency US support.
However, in the middle of the Six Day War, Israel launched a devastating attack on the USS Liberty, a US intelligence gathering ship that was sailing in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula.
The attack killed about 34 crew members, including naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian NSA employee, and wounded more than 170 people onboard. It was later described as one of the “most bloody and bizarre peacetime encounters in US naval history.”
The attack made no sense, particularly because the United States was the most important supporter of Israel and also its largest arms supplier.
What Happened To USS Liberty?
The USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was a Belmont-class technical research ship, originally built as a Victory cargo ship named SS Simmons Victory during World War II.
It was purchased by the US Navy in 1963 and converted into an intelligence gathering vessel in 1964, about three years before the surprise Israeli offensive on the Egyptian Air Force.
The ship was equipped to gather and process electronic emissions and foreign communications, assisting the National Security Agency (NSA). It was lightly armed with four .50-caliber machine guns, mainly for repelling boarders, and it was surely not a typical combat ship.
The USS Liberty was sent to the eastern Mediterranean in 1967 amid tensions between the Arabs and Israel. Afraid of being drawn into the conflict, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff required prompt information on the situation on the ground in Egypt.
Ships were believed to be the most suitable for the task as they could detect the most crucial signals by sailing very close. Additionally, they could stay on station for weeks at a time, listening in, finding transmitters, and analyzing the intelligence, unlike airplanes. Thus, the Liberty was deployed in the choppy and dangerous waters of the Mediterranean.
The ship’s mission, under the joint control of the Defense Intelligence Agency, CIA, and the US Sixth Fleet, was to collect signals intelligence (SIGINT) on activities along the Sinai Peninsula’s north coast.
On the fateful day of June 8, Israeli reconnaissance planes flew over the Liberty several times, only for them to attack the ship. At around 3:05 pm local time, two Israeli Mirage fighter-bombers fired 30 mm cannons at the ship, marking the beginning of the debacle.
A few members of the crew tried to retaliate against the invading aircraft, but the Liberty only had four .50-caliber machine guns on deck. These cannons were quickly destroyed by the Israeli jets along with the ship’s communication antennas.
The Liberty’s crew struggled to respond due to its minimal armament and reported intense communications jamming by Israel that obstructed all distress calls.
After attacking the ship with Mirage fighters, Israelis sent the Super Mystère fighter-bombers, which fired cannons at the ship and dropped napalm (a highly incendiary substance) on USS Liberty, starting a massive fire. The temperatures aboard reached 3,000 degrees, and all hell broke loose over the US spy ship.
Following the initial attacks, the ship was approached by three Israeli torpedo boats that launched about five torpedoes, one of which struck the Liberty’s starboard side, creating a 39-by-24-foot hole and killing 25 crew members instantly. The boats also fired artillery.
The attack was finally called off at about 4:30 pm, about an hour and a half later. It is noteworthy that the Commander of the ship, William L. McGonagle, and his crew miraculously managed to keep her afloat despite the torpedo damage and the 821 shell holes that plagued the ship.
Later, USS Liberty limped to Valletta, Malta, for repairs, escorted by Sixth Fleet units.
Upon learning of the incident, US President Lyndon Johnson initially assumed that the Soviet Union (which assisted the Arabs at the time) may have launched the deadly attack.
However, Israel soon owned up to the attack, expressing regret that the ship was mistaken for the Egyptian ship El Quseir, citing similarities in hull design and the drooping of the American flag. The US, on its part, believed the Israelis.
Aftermath Of The Attack & Deep Suspicions
In the aftermath of the incident, Israel made restitution for ship damage and casualties.
The US Navy convened a Court of Inquiry, which concluded the attack was a case of mistaken identity. However, the inquiry was held in closed sessions, and survivors were issued gag orders, triggering suspicion.
Multiple US inquiries and a 1991 House Armed Services Committee investigation concluded the attack was accidental, citing communication failures and misidentification.
However, a host of theories and claims continued to crop up, suggesting lapses on the part of the US and a sinister plan hatched by the Israelis. There are also claims, as stated by author James Bamford, that the US helped the Israelis with the cover-up.
According to some accounts, the US had sent messages ordering the Liberty to stay 100 miles from the coast in the days preceding the attack, but they were not received due to routing errors.
In complete contrast, Warfare History Network states that the Commander was uneasy with the ship’s proximity to the Egyptian coast and asked to be repositioned closer to destroyers and carriers. However, his requests were allegedly ignored by the authorities.
Meanwhile, an Israeli investigation revealed that the Israeli navy headquarters discovered it was an American ship at least three hours before the attack, but this intelligence could not be relayed to those officers who decided to launch the attack.
The Liberty attempted to radio for assistance, but the Israeli aircraft blocked the transmissions, according to history.com.
After the ship eventually managed to connect with the American carrier Saratoga, four tanker planes and twelve fighters were sent to defend the Liberty. However, they never made it to the distressed ship, as former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered them to be recalled to the carrier when word of their deployment reached Washington.
It is still unclear why they were recalled.
Some former US officials and Liberty survivors believe the attack was planned to conceal Israel’s impending takeover of Syria’s Golan Heights, which took place the next day.
They reckon that listening devices aboard the ship likely captured Israeli military conversations during the planning of this contentious mission, and the Israelis did not want to take a chance and have the US come in the way.
Notably, this was a time when Washington was wary of Soviet involvement in the war and wanted to avoid escalation that might prompt the Red Army to join in.
According to a different theory put forth by author James Bamford, the Israelis attacked the Liberty to hide a massacre of Egyptian inmates in the Sinai.
Several critics, including the USS Liberty Veterans Association, argue that the investigations conducted by the US were superficial, relying solely on evidence collected by the US machinery and ignoring crew testimonies. Many of them, including survivors, cite the clear visibility of the American flag, the prolonged nature of the attack, and the alleged targeting of life rafts as evidence of Israel’s murderous intent.
“It had a big Star of David on it and it was flying just a little bit above our mast,” recalled a crew member, Larry Weaver. “I was actually able to wave to the co-pilot. He waved back and actually smiled at me – I could see him that well. There’s no question about it. They had seen the ship’s markings and the American flag. They could damn near see my rank. The underway flag was definitely flying, especially when you’re that close to a war zone.”
The captain of the Liberty, Capt. William McGonagle stated in 1997, on the 30th anniversary of the strike, that he had wanted to think the attack was “pure error” for years but was unable to accept that explanation. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his command of the Liberty and his indomitable spirit during the tragedy.
A report by Middle East Monitor paints a bleaker picture, saying that the US administration helped Israel cover up due to the prevailing anti-US sentiment among Jewish people, due to Johnson’s neutrality.
“The lobby threatened that the Jewish demonstrations planned at that time in support of Israel in front of the White House on 8 June would turn into a protest against Johnson. The irony is that Johnson and members of his administration rushed to appease the Zionist lobby and the American Jews who supported Israel on the day the US was declaring mourning for its dead and wounded American soldiers who were deliberately killed by Israel on board the USS Liberty ship,” it states.
Israeli media, on the other hand, continues to dismiss all accusations. A Times of Israel report called it a classic case of friendly fire.
On the first day of the German invasion of Poland September 1, 1939, a platoon of German soldiers fired their rifles on what they thought to be an enemy plane that had been flying about them, causing the plane to come crashing down into their midst; out stepped a raging Luftwaffe general in charge of ground-air coordination.
On February 22, 1940, a German bomber sank two German destroyers in the North Sea, killing 578 German sailors.
During the 1956 War, the Israelis attacked a British destroyer, the HMS Crane, which they had mistaken for an Egyptian Z-class destroyer.
The largest tank battle of the 1956 War occurred at Abu Ageila, where two Israeli tank units fought each other to a standstill.
On June 5, 1967, the IAF bombed a column of IDF Sherman tanks in the battle for Jerusalem, and did so again on June 8, just a few hours before the attack on the Liberty.
The report concluded by saying: Many, many more instances could be cited.
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