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+---
+tags:
+  - Event
+  - Military
+  - USA
+  - Israel
+category: "Major Conflict"
+summary: "1967 attack on the U.S. Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty by Israeli forces during the Six-Day War, killing 34 crew members and sparking enduring controversy."
+---
+The USS Liberty Incident refers to the attack on the U.S. Navy intelligence ship USS Liberty by Israeli forces on June 8, 1967, the third day of the [[Six-Day War]]. The Liberty, flying the American flag, had been monitoring [[Middle East]] communications traffic in international waters off the coast of [[Israel]] and had been identified as an American ship before the attack. The incident resulted in the deaths of thirty-four American servicemen and wounded 171 others.[^1]
+
+[[Walworth Barbour]], the American ambassador to [[Israel]], urged [[Washington, D.C.]] to downplay the incident, reporting that [[Israel]] did not intend to admit to it and suggesting that publicity could feed Arab suspicions of U.S.-Israel collusion. He noted that the Israelis were "obviously shocked by error and tender sincere apologies."[^1]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12.