On June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli military forces attacked the U.S.S. Liberty, a U.S. Navy intelligence-gathering ship operating in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula. The controversy surrounding the incident has recently become a key flashpoint within President Trump's MAGA movement, splitting the American right along 'America first' and 'Israel first' lines.

The USS Liberty was conducting a classified intelligence-gathering mission in international waters, 25 miles northeast of the Egyptian coast. The ship was flying a 5 x 8 foot American flag, and survivors insist it was clearly visible.

The attack which began at 3:05pm local time, involved two Israeli Mirage fighter jets conducting multiple strafing runs, followed by three Israeli torpedo boats launching five torpedoes—one struck the Liberty, causing massive damage.

The assault lasted about two hours, resulting in 34 American service members killed and 171 wounded. The ship, flying the U.S. flag and displaying its hull number (AGTR-5) clearly, was heavily damaged but did not sink.

Survivors report that the ship’s decks became a “living hell” with temperatures reaching 3,000 degrees, and that the attack was so intense that crew members were killed instantly, including Lieutenant Commander Philip Armstrong Jr., the executive officer, who died during the assault.

Maurice Shafer, a Morse Code operator and communications technician, recalled a jet flying low and firing “to kill all the people it could kill,” with a missile killing his buddy just 15 feet away.

Shafer, recounted that Israeli aircraft first strafed the ship at low altitude, killing a crewmate nearby. He described the torpedo boats approaching with what appeared to be Israeli flags, only to open fire at close range. “We were dead, dead in the water,” he said.

Life rafts that crewmen had deployed were machine-gunned, and torpedo boats circled the burning ship, firing from close range at survivors on deck or attempting to rescue others. A torpedo boat that entered the area to assist was fired upon.

Survivors reported that Israeli forces jammed Liberty’s radio frequencies, machine-gunned life rafts, and continued attacking despite knowing the ship was American. One survivor, Larry Bowen, said that intercepted Israeli communications confirmed they knew the Liberty was U.S. and were ordered to continue the assault.

One intercepted message at 3:31 p.m. stated: “There is a warship there which we attacked. The men jumped into the water from it. You will try to rescue them.” The Israelis only confirmed the ship was American at 4:12 p.m., nearly 45 minutes after the last attack, and after the ship appeared to be sinking.

Two flights of U.S. Navy fighters launched from the USS Saratoga and USS America to defend the Liberty were recalled by pro-Israel Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara while the ship was still under attack, despite repeated distress calls.

Despite the ship being heavily damaged—821 shell holes, a 39-foot-wide torpedo hole, and 34 crew members killed (31 Sailors, 2 Marines, 1 NSA civilian), 171 wounded, and 22 missing, many of whom were trapped in flooded compartments—the crew, under the command of Commander William L. McGonagle, managed to keep the ship afloat. McGonagle, who suffered a concussion and shrapnel wounds, remained in command throughout the ordeal.

The USS Liberty limped to Malta for temporary repairs, was later awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and Combat Action Ribbon, and McGonagle received the Medal of Honor in 1968.

The U.S. government accepted Israel’s claim that the attack was a “mistaken identity” of the Liberty as an Egyptian cargo ship, despite clear evidence—including the ship’s prominent American flag, hull number GTR-5, and clear visibility in daylight.

The U.S. Navy conducted a brief court of inquiry with only 14 crew interviews, and testimony critical of Israel was redacted. The U.S. government has never conducted a full, public, or impartial investigation, and officials have repeatedly echoed the Israeli narrative that the attack was a “mistake.”

Israeli government findings falsely concluded the attack was a tragic case of mistaken identity, with Israeli forces believing the Liberty was an Egyptian vessel. Israel apologized, offered $6.9 million in compensation which was rejected.

The attack remains one of the most controversial incidents in U.S.-Israel relations, with survivors and advocates still demanding a full, transparent investigation.

Survivors and critics like Jim Ennes Jr. and Admiral Thomas H. Moorer argue the attack was intentional and that the U.S. government suppressed the truth.

In 2005, the USS Liberty Veterans Association submitted a formal report accusing Israel of war crimes, which was dismissed by the U.S. military. Survivors continue to demand a Congressional hearing to expose the truth, alleging a decades-long cover-up driven by political and financial influence, including from pro-Israel lobby groups like AIPAC.

However, no comprehensive public investigation has ever been conducted, and Congress and the Pentagon have repeatedly used a scripted response that parrots Israel’s account, ignoring survivor testimony.

The attack remains one of the most controversial incidents in U.S.-Israel relations. The long-standing controversy surrounding it, has recently become a deeply polarizing issue within the MAGA movement and the American right in general.

Prominent pro-Israel figures like Jewish supremacist Ben Shapiro, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and Zionist writer Rich Lowry regurgitate the official narrative, while others critics like popular commentator Tucker Carlson use the incident to question Israel’s trustworthiness and U.S. foreign policy alignment.

The debate intensified after commentator Candace Owens’ viral 2024 podcast interview with survivor Phil Tourney, who argued there is a U.S.-Israel cover-up in the USS Liberty incident. “They didn’t just throw us under the bus. Israel and our own government put a knife in our spine,” he said.

The topic has become a litmus test at recent conservative events, with younger conservatives increasingly skeptical of unconditional U.S. support for Israel.

Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU), was shot multiple times in a Moscow apartment building on Friday, and hospitalized in critical condition.

The attack occurred in the northwestern part of the city, where an unidentified assailant—reportedly posing as a delivery person—fired several shots at Alekseyev in the stairway of his residential building. He sustained wounds to his foot, arm, and chest, and reportedly underwent surgery, remaining in a coma, according to Kremlin sources.

Russian authorities, including the Investigative Committee and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, confirmed the incident and opened a criminal case for attempted murder.

Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had been informed and that security services were investigating.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed Ukraine, calling the attack a “terrorist act” intended to disrupt ongoing U.S.-mediated peace talks in Abu Dhabi, which concluded the day before.

Ukrainian officials have not officially commented on the attack. However, Denys Prokopenko, commander of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, posted on X that if Alekseyev survives, he “will never sleep peacefully again,” framing the attack as retribution for alleged war crimes.

Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) has previously listed Alekseyev as a war criminal for his role in intelligence operations supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including attacks on civilian targets and the orchestration of referendums in occupied territories.

Alekseyev, a Ukrainian-born officer, has been under Western sanctions since 2016 for alleged involvement in cyberattacks during the U.S. presidential election and for his alleged role in the 2018 Novichok poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England. He also allegedly played a key role in negotiating with Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin during his 2023 mutiny and was awarded the title Hero of Russia in 2017.

This attack is part of a pattern of targeted killings of Russian military officials inside Russia, including the December 2024 bombing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov and April 2025 killings of Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik and Fanil Sarvarov—acts Russia has blamed on Ukraine, which has claimed responsibility for some.

The timing—just after high-level peace talks—has heightened speculation about escalation. While President Volodymyr Zelensky has not made any public statement as of the time of publication, Ukrainian intelligence has previously acknowledged targeting Russian military figures, stating that “justice inevitably comes.”

X has launched a new experimental feature called Collaborative Notes, designed to integrate artificial intelligence into its Community Notes system. The initiative allows eligible human contributors to request AI-generated drafts for Community Notes, which are then refined through community feedback.

The AI, powered by Grok, creates an initial draft when a user requests a note on a post. This draft is then reviewed, rated, and improved by other contributors using suggestions and ratings. The system evaluates incoming feedback to determine if a revised version constitutes a meaningful improvement before publishing it.

Only top Community Notes writers with a high “Writing Impact” score can initiate a Collaborative Note at launch. The feature is currently limited to English-language posts.

Contributors can rate notes and suggest edits, with revisions only published if they represent a meaningful improvement. A revision history is maintained for transparency, and contributors are notified if their input is used.

The feature aims to address long-standing criticisms about the slow pace of note publication. According to X’s Keith Coleman, who oversees Community Notes, the collaborative process creates a “new way to make models smarter in the process” through continuous learning from community input. This hybrid model combines AI speed with human judgment, allowing notes to evolve in real time as new feedback arrives.

“The idea: when you request a note, AI drafts one — then the community refines it together through ratings and suggestions. You can watch it get better in real time. It’s a whole new way for the public to work with AI — and each other,” X's @CommunityNotes handle wrote.

The system follows the same transparency principles as existing Community Notes, including open-source code and public data access. And X is exploring new metrics like “Collaborative Impact” points to track the influence of user suggestions.

This marks a significant evolution from earlier experiments, such as the 2025 pilot that allowed AI bots to generate notes independently. In that model, AI-written notes were subject to human rating but not direct editing. The new Collaborative Notes feature represents a more integrated, iterative process where humans and AI co-create content together.

The move aligns with broader research advocating for hybrid human-LLM systems in content moderation. A 2025 study co-authored by X and institutions like MIT, Stanford, and Harvard supports this approach, arguing it can expand reach and speed while preserving trust.

X emphasizes that AI is not meant to replace humans but to augment the community’s ability to scale fact-checking efforts—especially for high-visibility or rapidly spreading content. This addresses long-standing criticism of slow community note publication.