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Massie presses for probe
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie used the 59th anniversary of Israel’s June 8, 1967 attack on the USS Liberty to renew calls for a congressional investigation, saying the surviving crew members need closure “while they’re still alive.”
Massie cast doubt on Israel’s mistaken-identity account, telling lawmakers, “The Israelis were intent on leaving no survivors,” as he spoke with survivors in attendance on the House floor.
The attack killed 34 sailors and wounded 171 others, after Israeli air and naval forces struck the U.S. Navy technical research vessel during the Six-Day War in international waters off Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
The renewed push is also tied to a Ninth Circuit court review of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking additional government records related to the incident.
Massie said he would deliver his speech Monday at approximately noon, and he invited survivors to attend as his guests in the gallery.
Competing narratives and reactions
Massie’s remarks drew attention to the long-running dispute over whether the attack was an accident or deliberate, with the Jerusalem Post describing his speech as giving “new prominence to a decades-old conspiracy theory.”
On the House floor, Massie said, “Fifty-nine years ago today, when they were viciously attacked by IDF jets and also after that by torpedo boats,” linking the anniversary to his call for a new investigation.
The USS Liberty Veterans Association praised Massie’s remarks on X/Twitter, writing that it was a story that “NO other member of Congress will even listen to.”
The Jerusalem Post also quoted Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas criticizing Massie’s approach, tweeting that he had previously believed Massie was “standing on heartfelt principles and had intellectual backing,” even as they did not always agree.
In a separate reaction, the ADL’s Oren Segal told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that his organization had been concerned about the “normalization” of Tucker Carlson’s views, including rhetoric on the USS Liberty attack.
Records, settlements, and what’s at risk
Beyond the congressional push, the sources describe ongoing legal and archival pressure, including a Ninth Circuit FOIA lawsuit filed by Michelle Kinnucan seeking release of additional government records related to the USS Liberty attack.
“A murky affair, which has given rise to multiple interpretations”
The New Arab reported that Congress has never passed a resolution condemning Israel for the attack and has not launched a comprehensive public inquiry despite repeated appeals from survivors, while it noted that a 1968 congressional subcommittee report remains classified.
The sources also point to the long aftermath of the incident, including Israel’s payments of $3.32 million in May 1968 to families of the dead and an additional $3.57 million to the injured, followed by a 1980 settlement including $6 million for damage to the ship and related interest.
In the meantime, Al Jazeera’s feed framed the story as one many Americans haven’t heard about, tying the renewed attention to Massie’s demand for a reckoning nearly 60 years after the attack.
The stakes in the sources center on whether additional records will be released and whether Congress will act, with Massie calling for a resolution honoring the victims and reopening scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding the June 8, 1967 assault.
