State Dep’t plans conference on Israeli attack on U.S. ship The State Department has announced it will host a two-day conference starting on Monday to discuss the 1967 Israeli attack of the U.S. spy ship the USS Liberty. 34 American servicemen died in the attack. Israel has long maintained the attack was an accident but many former top US Naval officials say the US was purposely targeted. The attack came during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.