Undisputed Facts

Before we get into a discussion of specific aspects of the case, let's take a moment to review the undisputed facts. The following facts are either explicitly admitted by both sides, or at least undisputed:

The United States of America was not a belligerent in the Arab-Israeli "Six-Day War" of June 1967.
American ships and aircraft held neutral status throughout that war.
Israel claimed a three-mile territorial sea in 1967.
Egypt claimed a twelve-mile territorial sea in 1967.
USS Liberty never entered the territorial seas of Israel or Egypt ; remaining in international waters at all times during the Six-Day War.
In June 1967, Israel and the United States of America were signatories to the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1958 Territorial Seas Convention.

Let's pause for just a moment to appreciate the significance of these undisputed facts.

At all times relevant to this inquiry, Israel held the status of a belligerent and the United States of America held the status of a neutral. International law imposes very specific duties on belligerents and neutrals during wartime. We will discuss this in greater depth in the following section dealing with the applicable law. For purposes of this discussion, however, it is important to understand that with respect to the June 1967 Six-Day War there are three significant facts:

Israel was a belligerent.
The United States of America was a neutral.
The conduct of both countries was governed by the Geneva Convention and the Territorial Seas Convention.

Resuming the recitation of undisputed facts, we also see that the following facts are uncontroverted by either side:

USS Liberty was visually inspected by an Israeli maritime reconnaissance aircraft at approximately 0600 on the morning of June 8, 1967. From an altitude of 3,000 feet, the observer on board the aircraft was able to read and record the ship's hull number (GTR-5).
The initial report of the sighting of USS Liberty at 0600 was quickly followed by a report that the ship appeared to be an "American navy cargo type ship".
The observer on board the maritime reconnaissance aircraft was debriefed by Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi at Israeli Air Force headquarters at approximately 1050. In the course of that debriefing, Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi and the observer jointly examined a copy of Janes' Fighting Ships and specifically identified the ship seen earlier as USS Liberty. This was done, in part, on the basis of the hull number.
The geographic location of USS Liberty at the time of the initial observation was sixteen nautical miles from the location of the subsequent attack.

Again, let's pause for a moment to consider the significance of these facts. The Israeli forces identified a ship at 0600 as "American navy cargo type ship". The aircraft observer was able to read and record the hull markings from an altitude of 3,000 feet. When the observer returned to base, he was debriefed personally by Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi. The observer and Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi jointly looked up the entry for USS Liberty in Janes' Fighting Ships.

Continuing with the undisputed facts:

Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi was the air-sea liaison officer assigned to Israeli Air Force Headquarters on June 8, 1967. As such, all information, questions, answers, and orders concerning seaborne targets were passed though him to coordinate between the Air Force and Navy.
No later than 1050 on the morning of June 8, 1967, Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi had specific knowledge that the American intelligence ship USS Liberty (GTR-5) was off the Gaza coast.

This is highly significant, as we will soon see, because of the contents of the transcripts offered by Israel which purport to be the air to ground communications between the Israeli aircraft and their ground controllers. When we examine the contents of those transcripts, we will see that the Israeli aircraft repeatedly stated that the target ship had Roman character hull numbers, though they were misreported at "CTR-5". This information was passed by the Air Force to the Navy through Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi. This information was known to Lt. Cmdr. Pinchasi when the Air Force requested that he obtain permission from the Navy to attack the ship.

Returning to the undisputed facts:

At all times when she was observed by Israeli forces, USS Liberty was sailing in international waters.
From 0905 until the attack at approximately 1400, USS Liberty's speed did not exceed five knots.
USS Liberty was incapable of making any speed in excess of eighteen knots.
USS Liberty had no weapons capable of providing any type of bombardment whatsoever.
Other than the four, pintle-mounted fifty-caliber machine guns placed on the ship for repelling boarders, USS Liberty was unarmed.

We will see that Israel claimed that USS Liberty was mistaken for a ship that had been bombarding a coastal town in Gaza from the sea. Further, USS Liberty purportedly "ran away" from the Israeli forces at a speed of no less than twenty-eight knots.

Back to the undisputed facts:

At a minimum, the Israeli attack pilots had a visual horizon of at least 65 miles as they approached USS Liberty's position.
Israeli forces did not report any other ships within sight of USS Liberty's position.
Israeli forces never identified the nationality of the ship they targeted in international waters (USS Liberty) before they launched their attack.

It is beyond any dispute (officially) that the attacking Israeli forces had no positive knowledge of the nationality of the ship they attacked. It is also beyond dispute that USS Liberty was incapable of the type of speed warships could make. Finally, it is beyond dispute that USS Liberty, very obviously, did not have any weapons capable of shore bombardment.

Returning again to the undisputed facts:

It was the intent of the attacking Israeli forces to sink the unidentified ship they attacked in international waters (USS Liberty).
"The Israeli helicopters sent to the scene of the attack were assault helicopters containing armed troops.

These final facts are significant in that they establish that the attack was deliberate and the intent of the Israeli attackers was to destroy their target. Putting aside all issues of Israeli knowledge of USS Liberty's identity at the time of the attack, there can be no question that the attack was intentional and executed with the intent of destroying the target ship.