Why was Israel spared scrutiny for the 1967 USS Liberty attack?

On June 8, 1967, at least 34 US sailors were killed and 171 others were wounded in an Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, a United States Navy technical research ship stationed in the Mediterranean Sea off Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Israel claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, saying its naval forces thought the vessel was Egyptian. But some of the survivors and researchers have disputed the Israeli version of the incident. They lament that successive governments did little to bring out the truth behind one of the deadliest attacks on the US Navy by its closest ally, Israel.

This year, the attack has come under renewed attention after US Representative Thomas Massie announced he would deliver a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives to honour and memorialise the crew of the USS Liberty.

So what do we know about one of the most controversial chapters of the US Navy?

Israeli air and naval forces bombarded the intelligence-gathering vessel in international waters near the Sinai Peninsula during the 1967 war, when Israel captured Egypt’s Sinai, Gaza and the West Bank.

The assault began when Israeli jets attacked the vessel, striking the ship’s deck with anti-personnel weapons and armour-piercing bullets.

This was followed by a devastating strike from Israeli torpedo boats that blew a massive hole in the ship’s starboard side, instantly killing 25 men in the lower research spaces. In total, 34 sailors were killed in the attack.

The crew had been flying the US flag and had even exchanged waves with low-flying Israeli aircraft earlier that morning, making their identity clear. Israel has long maintained the strike was a tragic error, claiming exhausted pilots mistook the US naval vessel for an Egyptian warship.