On June 8, marking the 59th anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Navy spy ship USS Liberty off the Sinai coast, Representative Thomas Massie (Republican) delivered a speech in the House of Representatives before surviving veterans, calling on the U.S. government to reopen its investigation into the event.
Israel has long maintained that the attack was a case of mistaken identity, a friendly-fire accident. However, many crew members of the USS Liberty reject this, asserting the assault was deliberate. Speaking in the House, Massie questioned whether Israel could have accidentally targeted the USS Liberty, given that ‘visibility was unlimited’ and ‘the American flag was flying proudly from the USS Liberty.’ He described the ship as having been ‘viciously attacked.’
‘While they are still alive, they need closure,’ Massie said of the veterans. ‘Give them closure. Hold an investigation. Pass a resolution honoring them. It is long overdue. And then they can have their justice.’
Massie’s speech is seen as a rare congressional acknowledgment of the unresolved questions surrounding the attack. The event unfolded amid a growing movement opposing unconditional U.S. aid to Israel.
According to Massie, on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft strafed and dropped napalm on the USS Liberty before firing torpedoes into the ship. ‘The Israelis intended to leave no survivors,’ he said, noting that Israeli aircraft had been observed reconnaissance of the ship the day before.
To bolster his argument, Massie cited statements from several top U.S. diplomatic, intelligence, and military officials, including former Secretary of State Dean Rusk and former Admiral Thomas Hinman Moorer, both of whom believed the attack was deliberate. ‘None of these distinguished men think it was an accident,’ Massie said.
In 2003, Ward Boston, a former counsel to the Navy’s investigative board into the incident, revealed in an affidavit that the lead investigator, Isaac Kidd, had been pressured to conclude the attack was a case of mistaken identity. However, a 2006 CIA review affirmed that Israeli pilots ‘failed to identify’ the USS Liberty as an American ship.
Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw criticized Massie for his planned speech on the attack. On the social media platform X, Crenshaw wrote: ‘The USS Liberty incident is a tragic event, but it is one with a clear conclusion using any objective analysis of the facts.’
In contrast, the USS Liberty Veterans Association, comprising most survivors, praised Massie’s speech on social media. ‘A wonderful story told in such a short amount of time. A story NO OTHER Member of Congress would listen to.’
