USS Liberty incident

The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, USS Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War.^[3] The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship.^[4] At the time, the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nmi (29.3 mi; 47.2 km) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish.^[1][5]

Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Libertyhad been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship.^[6] Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to American communications faliure^[7] which caused Israeli confusion about the ship's identity,^[2] though others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate.^[8]

In May 1968, the Israeli government paid US$3.32 million(equivalent to US$23.4 million in 2017) to the U.S. government in compensation to the families of the 34 men killed in the attack. In March 1969, Israel paid a further $3.57 million ($23.8 million in 2017) to the men who had been wounded. In December 1980, it agreed to pay $6 million ($17.8 million in 2017) as the final settlement for material damage to Liberty itself plus 13 years of interest.^[9]

Damaged USS Liberty one day (9 June 1967) after attack