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It is impossible to write a "factual" account of the attack on the LIBERTY by Israeli forces. From the first hour of the event the story of what happened is in dispute between the crewmen and the Israelis. The most basic facts are challenged. For this reason I will frequently, in presenting an account of events, follow this with an opposing account and make clear that these contradictory claims are not reconciled. There has been a third of a century of discussion over the LIBERTY incident without resolution of the disputes.
There are two large overall questions involved here. First, was the Israeli attack deliberate or accidental? Secondly, did the LBJ administration recall the rescue flights sent toward the ship to avoid a clash between US and Israeli forces?
The second question, concerning the recall of the rescue flights, will be dealt with in future sections of this history. The first question, as to whether the attack was accidental or intentional, revolves around testimony from both sides concerning the events of June 8, 1967, and consideration of this question begins with an argument over the Israeli aerial surveillance of THE LIBERTY.
The crewmen claim that there were eight surveillance's of the ship, from 0600 to 1245. Most observations were by Noratlas "flying boxcars", a few by Mirage III fighter- bombers. Some of the flights stayed at a distance of a mile or more, but most came close to the ship and a few passed over the ship at low levels. The flight at 1000 by a Mirage III was of particular importance, for Hebrew- speaking radio operators on the ship heard the plane reporting back to its base that the ship was a US naval ship and in fact was the USS LIBERTY. By late morning the crew had become accustomed to these flights and regarded them as friendly surveillance, with the crew waving to the pilots who waved back.
ISRAELI ACCOUNT: While the crewmen are exact and specific in their statements about the aerial surveillance, the Israelis relate various stories without reconciling them. The Israelis describe overflights ranging in number from none to seven, with three as the average (compared to the crewmenıs claim of eight). They claim that many of the flights which the crew believed were surveillance were merely the traffic of planes back and forth from Israel to Egypt, and that some of these planes barely noticed the ship. Furthermore, Israeli spokesmen claim that it was impossible for the crewmen to see the pilots of the ships and to see them wave. The Israelis do say, however, that the 1000 flight which was so important to the crewmen did indeed observe and identify the ship. The 0600 sighting had resulted in a marker on the table classifying the ship as "unknown". The 1000 sighting now changed this marker to "neutral".
By 1130 the ship had reached its assigned spot and then turned westward, slowing its speed to 5 knots. On the shore in El Arish at 1145 there was a huge explosion and a thick cloud of black smoke spread along the beach. It was impossible for the crew to tell what this might mean. In fact, the explosion had been caused by Egyptian sappers blowing up ammunition dumps left by the Egyptian army in its retreat. The Israeli army in El Arish notified HQ in Tel Aviv that the shore was being bombarded, and that this might be connected to the ship (LIBERTY) which they saw 14 miles offshore, slowly heading westward.
Meanwhile, other events were occurring which led the Israelis to believe, in their account, that LIBERTY was an enemy ship. In Ashdod at 1100 the marker signifying LIBERTY as a neutral ship was removed from the table by CMDR Lunz, in charge. He stated later that the marker referred to the ship at 0600, but now five hours later the ship would not be there and so the marker was removed. Lunz did not notify the incoming shift at 1100 of this, so when reports came in about a ship after 1100 the ship would be "rediscovered", this time as a possible enemy. Lunz claimed later that his actions were routine and according to procedure.
LIBERTY ACCOUNT: The crewmen claim that Lunz's claim that there were no reports of the ship after 0600 is false. In particular, they point to the 1000 report from an Israeli plane back to base which identified the LIBERTY.
Unknown to the crewmen, their ship was now the center of Israeli attention. In order to investigate the possible bombardment of the coast, three motor torpedo boats were assigned to investigate the situation. Their very controversial journey will be the subject of the next article.
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