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Short answer
The accusation that Israel deliberately attacked the USS Liberty as a false flag operation, or to protect intelligence secrets, is pure conspiracy theory—and it has been debunked repeatedly, time and time and time again…
The 1967 USS Liberty incident was a tragic wartime mistake, not a conspiracy. Multiple U.S. investigations found no evidence it was intentional.
Declassified NSA audio recordings and transcripts prove it was a case of mistaken identity.
Israel took responsibility, apologized, and paid compensation.
But anti-Israel voices keep pushing this blood libel to smear and divide the alliance between two strong allies, and to falsely vilify Israel in the eyes of patriotic Americans.
Long answer
The accusation that Israel deliberately attacked the USS Liberty in 1967 as a “false flag” to draw the U.S. into a war with Egypt or to protect intelligence secrets the ship was allegedly spying on is a long-standing blood libel with no basis in fact.
During the height of the Six-Day War, Israeli forces mistakenly identified the American intelligence ship as an enemy Egyptian vessel near an active combat zone off the Sinai coast.
The result was tragic: 34 American servicemen were killed and over 170 wounded. But the claim that this was intentional has been repeatedly investigated and thoroughly debunked.What caused the USS Liberty tragedy?
A deadly chain of wartime errors. Israeli planes lost visual contact; Naval Intel misidentified the ship as a known Egyptian vessel supplying enemy troops. The Liberty wasn’t properly flagged or communicated to Israeli forces, and U.S. communication codes were out of sync, delaying clarification.
It was a deadly mix of fog-of-war confusion, misidentification, and communication failure.And it’s important to remember: tragic incidents like this happen in every war.The U.S. accidentally bombed its own troops in Vietnam and Afghanistan. In 1994, U.S. Air Force jets shot down two American Black Hawks over Iraq, killing 26 coalition members. In 1999, during the Kosovo war, NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, thinking it was a military target.
None were intentional — they were wartime tragedies. The USS Liberty was no different.
Israel apologized, took full responsibility, and paid millions in compensation. The U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry found no evidence of intent, and no credible proof has ever said otherwise. But conspiracy theorists exploit the tragedy to fuel anti-Israel hate.
It’s not about truth or the victims — it’s about attacking the U.S.-Israel alliance and trying to vilify Israel and stir anger among patriotic Americans by anti-Israelis and conspiracy theorists.
