The Israeli Military intentionally attacked the USS Liberty

Thanks Wylted. C1) Context of the Six Day War In order to fully understand the attack on the USS Liberty which took place on June 8, 1967, near the Sinai Peninsula and 29.3 miles from the Egyptian city of El-Arish, one has to be aware of the circumstances between Israel and Egypt and what was taking place place within the six days. The 1967 war was not only a simple operation but a full-scale conflict initiated by Egypt with its closing of the Tiran Straits, a vital shipping area for Israel, and the subsequent mobilization of its troops in the Sinai. Because of the ensuing war and the fact that Egypt was Israel's military enemy, anything that was in nearby Egyptian territory if unidentified would've been considered a threat by Israeli forces. C2) Warnings and Failed CommunicationsLeading up to to attack on the USS, Israeli general Yitzhak Rabin specifically informed commander Ernest Carl Castle, the American naval attaché in Tel Aviv, that Israel would defend its coast with every means at its disposal, which included the sinking of unidentified ships in the area. Rabin explicitly asked that the U.S stay away from their location or at the least make it known of their (U.S ships) exact positioning. Despite this advice, the U.S provided Israel with no clear information on the Liberty and failed to disclose its location. The Liberty was an old Navy vessel first used in the second world war, that had since underwent conversion. Such details when combined together make it conceivable that Israel was not able to formally establish its identity by merely flying over. On June 7, the Pentagon had issued an order to Six Fleet headquarters to tell the Liberty to come no closer than 100 nautical miles to Israel, Syria or the Sinai coast. However, by the time that warning was sent, the Liberty was already cruising 10-12 miles off the coast of Israel and the Sinai. Due to communication errors, the message to remain at 100 miles away from Israel and the Sinai was unfortunately not transmitted to Liberty frequency until hours after the attack had taken place. (C3) Israeli Communication Before any proceeding action action against the USS Liberty, two reports were made about about the sighting of a ship on the El-Arish coast. Both of which reached the conclusion that the ship was "unidentified" and made no reference to an American flag, which survivors from aboard the Liberty have claimed was clearly visible. The second sighting that was made at 9:AM by an Israeli fighter jet, twenty miles North of El-Arish on the Sinai coast, merely reports that the ship is "gray", "bulky", and "with its bridge amidships". Once again, no large American flag, which was allegedly flying from the Liberty's starboard halyard, was seen. Because the sea was calm on the day of the attack, if the U.S flag was up, it would've very likely dropped and not easily been identifiable. During the attack, you in fact explicitly hear an Israeli pilot shouting: "there is no flag on her!"Another Israeli pilot, when flying at ninety feet, stated the same thing to Israeli headquarters: "I see no flag", only observing markings on the boat which he could not distinguish.In 2003, another Israeli crew member that was involved in the attack Yiftah Spector stated that he had been advised an Egyptian ship was off the Gaza coast and continued with the point that the ship was unidentified and that no flag was observed. "This ship positively did not have any symbol or flag that I could see. What I was concerned with was that it was not one of ours. I looked for the symbol of our navy, which was a large white cross on its deck. This was not there, so it wasn't one of ours.” A recording of Yiftah's radio transmission was later obtained in which in he is heard saying, “I can't identify it, but in any case it's a military ship.” An Israeli admiral named Shlomo Erell, who was Chief of the Israeli Navy in 1967 during the Six Day War, released the following statement: “No one would ever have dreamt that an American ship would be there. Even the United States didn't know where its ship was. We were advised by the proper authorities that there was no American ship within 100 miles.”Yitzhak Rabin, after the incident had taken place, commented that: "I must admit I had mixed feelings about the news, profound regret at having attacked our friends and a tremendous sense of relief [that it was not Soviet]." Once that Israel had established that it was not a Soviet or an Egyptian ship, they immediately reported the incident to the U.S Embassy in Tel Aviv and offered to provide a helicopter for those aboard and to assist in evacuating the injured and with salvaging what was left of the ship. The offer was accepted, and later a U.S naval attaché was sent to the Liberty. (C4) InvestigationsOn the contrary to no formal inquiries, several investigations have been conducted by the U.S government and three by Israel. These include:U.S -U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry -Joint Chief of Staff's Report-CIA Intelligence Memorandums -Clark Clifford Report -Senate Foreign Relations Committee Testimony -House Armed Services Committee Investigationion-The NSA History Report Israel -Fact Finding Inquiry by Colonel Ram Ron -Preliminary Inquiry by Examining Judge Yeshayahu Yerushalmi -IDF History Department Report, "the Liberty" incidentAll reports have found no evidence of any premeditated or intentional attack on the Liberty, instead concluding that the attack was indeed accidental and the result of errors made by both sides. I'll highlight again that Israel made it clear that the waters within the Sinai location were extremely hostile and that it expected full transparency from the U.S in relation to ships it may deploy to the area. The CIA report that was issued in 1967 concludes that "no malice" was found, the U.S Navy Inquiry asserts that it was a case of "mistaken identity", the Clifford report finds there is "no evidence" that the ship was determined as American, with the National Security establishing the same. (C5) Explosion Shortly before the Liberty attack, an explosion was heard within the territory of El-Arish. This is in fact the primary reason on as to why Israel proceeded with its course of action and sensed a threat in the area. The explosion was additionally observed by those aboard the Liberty who noted a thick wave of smoke come towards them. The day prior, the area had been shelled by Egyptian warships, thus again, making Israel on high alert. Minutes after the explosion, reports of naval bombardment had reached Yitzhak Rabin, convinced there was further shelling he decided to pursue the matter and restated the order to sink any unidentified ships. (C6) Motivation If something as significant as a nation attacking its ally occurs, the question of motivation also arises. What exactly would Israel have to gain from attacking a U.S ship? There's certainly no military advantages, as Israel was not fighting with the U.S, and in terms of close allied friendship, what would be the purpose in sacrificing that for an intentional attack on a ship that belonged to the U.S and posed nothing of any great importance to Israel? The losses are far higher and more detrimental than anything Israel would have to benefit. Such losses include being accountable for and potentially convicted of war crimes, lack of U.S backing, expenses, such as those that go on legal cases, etc. Alluding further to the financial costs, Israel has paid millions of dollars in compensation to survivors and victims families and towards damages suffered to the ship. Avraham Harman stated that Israel was fully prepared: "to make amends for the tragic loss of lives and material", giving his "deep condolences" and "sympathy" to the victims families. Reasons that have been presented, including those put forward by Liberty survivors include suggestions of the Liberty listening in on Israel's plan of capturing the Golan Heights which was to occur two days later, however, this particular allegation is proved false by the fact that Israel had already revealed its military plans and made virtually no attempts to conceal its intentions of an offensive against the Syrian army. On June 8, the American consulate in Jerusalem reaffirmed that Israel was retaliating for Syria's attacking of Israeli villages in the north, stating "in an apparent prelude to large-scale attack in effort to seize Heights overlooking border kibbutzim." On the same day, the U.S. Ambassador Walworth Barbour while in Tel Aviv commented that "I would not, repeat not, be surprised if the reported Israeli attack on the Golan does take place or has already done so". The Israeli Defence Forces Intelligence Chief Aharon Yariv also told Harry McPherson, a senior White House executive, that "there still remained the Syria problem and perhaps it would be necessary to give Syria a blow."Baring in mind that the Liberty was in Egyptian territory, the listening devices were not powerful enough that they could listen in on Israeli conversations in Tel Aviv. Another suggestion that has been made is that the Liberty somehow discovered, (through its devices) the alleged massacre of Egyptian POW'S, once again however this is unsupported and there is no evidence that any massacre has ever even occurred. Sources: [1.] http://www.britannica.com...[2.] http://www.sixdaywar.org...[3.] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org...[4.] http://www.thelibertyincident.com...[5.] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org...[6.] http://www.thelibertyincident.com...[7.] http://www.thelibertyincident.com...[8.] http://www.thelibertyincident.com...[9.] http://www.thelibertyincident.com... [10.] http://www.jta.org...