Table of contents:
- Intelligence aside from the conflict
- Strike the observers
- Israeli version of the American ship attack
- American versions of the incident
- Let's stay friends
Video: Why Israel attacked an American spy ship of its allies in 1967
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
During the Six Day War between Israel and the Arab coalition in 1967, there was a very controversial episode. On the fourth day of the armed conflict, June 8, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attacked the USS Liberty, a US Navy reconnaissance ship. The attack resulted in dozens of American sailors killed and over a hundred wounded. What was the reason for Israel's massive attack on the Allied ship, and why this conflict did not become the reason for the start of another war - we will tell everyone about this in this material.
Intelligence aside from the conflict
It's no secret that during the Six-Day War "behind the scenes" of the confrontation between the Israelis and the Arab coalition, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Syria were two world superpowers - the USA and the USSR. The Americans supported Israel, and the Soviet Union provided military assistance to the Arabs. However, neither the United States nor the USSR openly entered hostilities, preferring to watch the military conflict from the outside.
In those days, the American electronic intelligence ship "Liberty" was in the Mediterranean Sea, where it calmly monitored what was happening in the region away from the conflict. Nothing foreshadowed any trouble for the Americans: the ship was in neutral waters, and a large stars and stripes US flag proudly fluttered on its mast. And suddenly, in the afternoon of June 8, 1967, planes appeared in the Mediterranean sky, which were going directly to the USS Liberty.
Strike the observers
The planes that were heading for the American ship were Israeli Dassault Mirage III fighters and French-made Dassault Super Mystère fighter-bombers. The Mirages were the first to strike, firing unguided rockets at the USS Liberty. Next, the "Super Misters" joined the attack, dropping napalm bombs on the deck of the American ship.
But that was only the beginning of hell for the Liberty crew. After making a U-turn in the sky, the planes went back to the ship. This time, Israeli pilots hit the USS Liberty with 30mm automatic cannons. A fire started on the ship. The surviving crew members rushed to the aid of the wounded and began to desperately fight the fire. However, this was not the end.
After an air strike, torpedo boats "Heil ha-yam" - the Israeli Navy approached the ship engulfed in flames. They fired 5 torpedoes towards Liberty, of which, fortunately, only one hit the target. But the Israeli boats did not retreat, and, having begun to circle around the USS Liberty, rained machine-gun fire on it.
Having received a hole in the central part of the hull, which caused it to roll at 10 °, the American ship was still afloat. Captain of the Liberty, William McGonagall, orders all survivors to escape and abandon the ship. However, as soon as the first lifeboats were launched, the Israeli boats from machine guns immediately shot them down.
The Israeli attack on the USS Liberty lasted 1 hour and 25 minutes. The vessel, which was barely afloat, was able to start the engines and gradually began to move away from the scene of the incident. Having transmitted a distress signal to the US 6th Fleet, the ship was preparing to receive ambulance helicopters sent to meet it. The loss of the crew of the "Liberty", which consisted of 290 sailors and officers, amounted to 172 wounded and 34 killed.
Israeli version of the American ship attack
According to the official Israeli version, the American ship USS Liberty was mistaken for an Egyptian warship, which supposedly had a similar silhouette. However, how can one explain the fact that the pilots and sailors of Israel's torpedo boats, approaching very close to the ship, did not notice the name written on board - USS Liberty, and the large American flag waving on the mast.
By the way, the stars and stripes were knocked down immediately after the start of the attack. But the American sailors hastened to raise the new flag. That did not affect the "excitement" of the attackers in any way. It can be assumed, of course, that the Israelis thought that the Egyptian warship, which, according to their information, was supposed to be in this place, “disguised itself” as an American ship. However, it is unlikely that the pilots and sailors of the Israel Defense Forces did not hear the talks on the air and the requests for assistance that Liberty sent to the US 6th Fleet, based in the Mediterranean.
An Israeli brigadier general, and in 1967 an Israeli Air Force officer, deputy commander of 101 Squadron and head of the attack on the USS Liberty, Iftah Spektor, only in 2003 agreed to an exclusive interview regarding the incident. According to the Israeli military, then there was a mistake. However, this was a mistake on the part of Liberty, since at that time, according to the US declaration, which they voiced at the UN, not a single American ship was in the vicinity of 100 miles from the combat area.
And the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty took place just 29 miles from the Sinai Peninsula. Spector said in an interview that he received information on the radio that an Egyptian warship had appeared off the coast of Gaza. And that he should be attacked. The Israeli military added that in fact, Liberty was very lucky, as its plane was only lightly armed. “If I had a bomb, the ship would now be at rest at the bottom, like the Titanic. You can rest assured of that,”the Israeli brigadier general concluded his interview.
Be that as it may, but Israel acknowledged the fact of a mistaken attack on the Allied ship and apologized to the US government and the families of the victims. As compensation, the Israeli side paid the relatives of the victims and victims $ 13 million.
American versions of the incident
The Americans have as many as 3 versions of why Israel attacked the American intelligence ship USS Liberty. Moreover, all these versions agree on one thing - the Israeli strike was deliberate. That is, the command of the Israel Defense Forces knew well whose ship was located near the shores of the Sinai Peninsula. Let's consider all 3 versions in order.
The most common of these is that Israel did not want the United States to know about its plans to retake the Golan Heights from Syria. The start of this top-secret operation was scheduled for the next day, June 9, 1967. The Israelis justifiably feared that with the help of the reconnaissance equipment with which the USS Liberty was equipped, the Americans could easily intercept their encryptions. After their decryption, the United States could either immediately disclose this information, or use it to blackmail its Middle Eastern ally.
The second version says that an American reconnaissance vessel at that time could intercept and publicize negotiations of Israeli top commanding officers, which related to the war crimes of the Israel Defense Forces in the occupied territories of the Sinai Peninsula. We are talking about the execution of Egyptian prisoners of war by Israeli soldiers, as well as individual cases of similar actions against the civilian population.
According to the third version, Israel really wanted to involve the United States in hostilities on its side. The Israelis feared that the USSR could at any time move from material and technical assistance to the Arab countries participating in the armed conflict to a direct military presence. In this case, Israel could not count on any positive outcome of this military campaign. Some sources even state that the Israelis are planning to "lead" their American allies to a decision on a nuclear strike on Cairo.
Let's stay friends
Whatever versions put forward by both sides of the incident with the attack on the USS Liberty - the secret of that incident still remains unsolved. Independent historians and journalists still have a lot of questions to both the American and Israeli sides. And the first of them is why, with all the official assurances that the incident was a simple mistake of the military, the investigation of the tragedy in the United States was carried out under the heading "top secret".
Until now, neither one nor the other likes to recall this "annoying" episode in the history of relations between the United States and Israel. It is not included in the modern history courses taught in both of these countries. Among the mass of remaining mysteries associated with this military incident, only one thing is certain for certain - the USS Liberty became the first, after World War II, an American ship that underwent a real armed attack.
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