GOP lawmaker accuses Israel of ‘intentional murder’ of US sailors

After losing the primary to Trump-backed candidate, outgoing Republican Congressman Thomas Massie pushes anti-Israel conspiracy theory accusing IDF of carrying out “false flag operation” against an American vessel in 1967.

By World Israel News Staff

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky used a House floor speech Monday to accuse Israel of deliberately attacking the USS Liberty in 1967, parroting long-running conspiracy theories about the incident and calling for a new congressional investigation.

The Republican congressman spoke on the 59th anniversary of the incident, in which Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats struck the US Navy intelligence ship off the Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War.

Thirty-four American crew members were killed and more than 170 were wounded.

“It’s my great honor, maybe one of the biggest honors of my lifetime, to stand here on the floor and do something that’s 59 years overdue, to recognize the survivors and those who gave their lives on the USS Liberty,” Massie said.

Massie, who is one of the most outspoken anti-Israel Republicans in Congress, said he had met with surviving crew members before his remarks and rejected the official conclusion that the attack was a tragic mistake.

“None of these distinguished men think this was an accident,” he said. “They think it was intentional murder by the country of Israel, either as a false flag operation or because they simply didn’t want anybody observing what they were doing that day.”

The “false flag” claim has long circulated among conspiracy theorists who argue that Israel attacked the ship in order to blame Egypt or draw the United States more directly into the war.

No official US investigation has backed this theory.

US and Israeli inquiries concluded that the Liberty was attacked after Israeli forces mistakenly identified it as an Egyptian vessel.

Israel apologized after the attack and paid compensation to the United States and to families of the victims.

Still, the incident has remained one of the most disputed episodes in US-Israel military history. Survivors and critics of Israel have long argued that the attack could not have been accidental, citing the ship’s American flag, its markings and the duration of the assault.

Massie leaned heavily on that argument in his speech.

“According to eyewitness accounts, the Israelis machine gunned the lifeboats that they put down,” he said. “They machine gunned the firefighters who were on the deck.”

He said the attack was intended to leave no survivors and cited former US officials whom he said had questioned the official account. He then called for Congress to honor the Liberty crew and reopen the case.

A June 1967 diplomatic note from Secretary of State Dean Rusk to Israel’s ambassador said the attack was “quite literally incomprehensible” and, at minimum, reflected “reckless disregard for human life.”

A CIA review of Israel’s own inquiry also found serious contradictions and described the torpedo boat attack as the work of “overeager Israeli commanders.”

The same review concluded, however, that while the Liberty had previously been identified by Israeli headquarters, the attacking forces apparently were not aware they were striking that ship.

Massie’s remarks come weeks after he lost a primary race to Ed Gallrein, a Trump-backed challenger and former Navy SEAL, in a race that became one of the most expensive House primaries in US history.

Trump had made Massie a personal target after repeated clashes over foreign policy and executive power, including Massie’s opposition to Trump-backed spending and war-powers moves.

Even before his comments on the Liberty incident, Massie had built a reputation as one of the House GOP’s most persistent opponents of pro-Israel legislation.

Massie has also consistently opposed resolutions addressing antisemitism, and he was the lone vote against a symbolic 2022 measure condemning antisemitism.