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The article below was published in the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, Internet edition, as a Latest News Article, on April 24, 2001:
Book: Israeli attack on USS Liberty deliberateBy Melissa Radler
A new book is alleging that Israel's 1967 attack on the USS Liberty - an intelligence ship attacked by sea and air off the coast off the Sinai coast on the fourth day of the Six Day War - was deliberate, aimed at halting US eavesdropping on Israeli military activity, the New York Times reported yesterday.
The book, called "Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency from the Cold War through the Dawn of a New Century," was written by author James Bamford, who dabbled in government conspiracies in a 1983 book called "The Puzzle Palace."
The new book alleges that a full-scale US cover-up, which included President Lyndon B. Johnson and the US Congress, took place after the attack on the USS Liberty, which killed 34 and injured 171 sailors.
Citing evidence from crew members aboard a US spy plane listening in on the attack, interviews with sailors aboard the ship and National Security Agency officials, Bamford dismisses Israel's claim that the attack was an accident.
"Despite the overwhelming evidence that Israel had attacked the ship and killed the American servicemen deliberately, the Johnson administration and Congress covered up the entire incident," Bamford writes.