WASHINGTON -- New documents released this week by America's National Security Agency support Israel's version of a long-festering controversy between the two countries. Israel's sinking of an American spy ship, the USS Liberty, off the coast of Gaza during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Israel has always said it had no idea the ship was American, but conspiracy theorists and anti-Israel propagandists still claim Israel sank the ship in the full knowledge that it was American.
The documents, originally defined as top secret, were made public by Florida Judge Jay Cristol, who has been investigating the Liberty incident for years and published a book on the subject last year. On Monday, the NSA gave him a transcript of conversations held by two Israeli Air Force helicopter pilots who were hovering over the Liberty as it was sinking, and these tapes confirm Israel's claim that the sinking of the ship, which killed 34 American servicemen and wounded 171, was a tragic error.
http://www.internationalwallofprayer.org/A-201-US-Agency-Confirms-Sinking-of-USS-Liberty-was-Accident.html
The USS Liberty did not sink. Let me repeat that - it did not sink. They kept it afloat and were able make it back to the supporting fleet and eventually repair work done on Malta.
This, IMHO, is a huge mistake made by the article and brings into question its credibility.
The Israelis knew it was the American spy ship - USS Liberty. There was one Hebe linguist on board who was picked up in Rota, Spain. He was actually not needed since all Israeli air to ground transmissions were done in English. Where are those transcripts?
I am, BTW, very pro-Israeli. But, there was a huge coverup at the time as the survivors were threatened not to say a thing when they returned to the States. What happened and why has been a hot topic among my fellow Hebe and Arab linguist for decades. The truth is out there :-). Additionally, I became a Hebe linguist some seven years after the incident and know people who were involved indirectly. Still a mystery after all these years.