[GunRunner]

Not to mention the lack of a motive for the Israelis to attack an American ship.

[risk]

Anti-semitic conspiracy theorists have no lack of motives to proffer.

[Benjo]

"Not to mention the lack of a motive for the Israelis to attack an American ship."

We don't know what the Israeli motive was but apparently Israel felt strongly enough about the matter that it warned the U.S. government the day before the attack that if we didn't get the Liberty out of there Israel would sink it. This information comes from John P. Stenbit, assistant secretary of defense for command,control, communications, and intelligence who gave a presentation at Harvard on March 13 of last year in which he said:

"The Israelis called us up one day and said, 'If you don't get that ship, the LIBERTY, out of this place we're going to sink it in twenty-four hours.'"

Unfortunately, said Stenbit, it took longer than 24 hours for that threat to be passed on to appropriate authorities and by that time 34 Americans had already died.