---
aliases:
- USS Liberty Incident
- USS Liberty attack
category: Major Conflict
created: 2026-05-17
location: Eastern Mediterranean Sea
start: 1967-06-08
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.
tags:
- Event
- Military
- UnitedStates
- Israel
title: USS Liberty Incident
updated: 2026-05-17
---

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](/events/six-day-war/). The Liberty, flying the American flag, had been monitoring Middle East communications traffic in international waters off the coast of [Israel](/places/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](/people/walworth-barbour/), the American ambassador to Israel, urged [Washington, D.C.](/places/washington-dc/) 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]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 12.