What Everyone Ignores This Year Dancing Israelis Recent Findings To Know

Investigating the Lasting Story of the Dancing Israelis

On the unsettled morning of September 11, 2001, as the world beheld in horror, a strange incident occurred in New Jersey that would afterwards blossom into one of the most persistent conspiracy theories concerning the attacks. Five Israeli nationals were witnessed in a state of ostensible celebration, leading their arrest and an in-depth FBI investigation. While governmental inquiries eventually cleared the men of any foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks, the particulars of their behavior and the situation of their presence have stoked speculation and debate for over two decades.

The Primary Sighting and Following Arrest

As the North Tower of the World Trade Center was alight and before the South Tower was hit, a number of inhabitants in Union City and North Bergen, New Jersey, notified law enforcement. They reported seeing a group of men who were conducting themselves in a highly anomalous manner. One witness, Maria, who was interviewed by ABC News' 20/20 program, remembered her sighting. She claimed she saw three men atop a white van in the parking lot of the Doric apartment building, which offered a clear, panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline.

The onlookers' accounts repeatedly described the men as celebrating. They were reportedly taking photographs of each other with the smoking towers in the background, smiling, and giving each other high-fives. This deportment, so starkly at odds with the widespread mood of shock and horror, was regarded suspicious enough to justify an prompt police response. The callers gave the license plate number and a depiction of the vehicle, a white 2000 Chevrolet van belonging to a company named Urban Moving Systems.

A BOLO Be On the Lookout alert was circulated for the van. Later that afternoon, at approximately 4:00 PM, officers from the East Rutherford Police Department spotted the vehicle on Route 3 near Giants Stadium. The van was stopped, and its five occupants were ordered out at gunpoint. The men inside were identified as Israeli citizens: Sivan Kurzberg, Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Omer Marmari. Their apprehension signaled the start of a prolonged and intricate investigation that would delve into their identities, their employer, and their justifications for being at that location on that fateful morning.

The Inquiry and Found Evidence

The five men were handed over to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and were detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The initial search of their van revealed several articles that heightened the investigators' suspicions. According to FBI reports, the contents included:

• Multiple passports from different countries.
• $4,700 in cash hidden in a sock.
• A small number of box cutters.
• Cameras and several rolls of undeveloped film.

The existence of box cutters was particularly alarming, as they were the same type of instrument used by the 19 hijackers aboard the four planes. The men were debriefed for weeks, and some reportedly did not pass polygraph tests multiple times. The probe concentrated on a critical question: Did these men have prior knowledge of the attacks on the World Trade Center? Their company, Urban Moving Systems, also came under intense scrutiny. The owner of the company, Dominik Suter, another Israeli national, suddenly left the United States for Israel just days after the attacks, abandoning his business and its property. FBI agents who later raided the company's Weehawken, New Jersey, warehouse discovered an strangely vacant office. "It looked like they'd just packed up and left," one agent was quoted as saying. The computers had been taken, and the atmosphere was one of a hurried departure.

Authoritative Conclusions and Deportation

After a 71-day detention, the U.S. Department of Justice declared its results. The FBI's Counterterrorism Division determined that, despite the suspicious circumstances, they could find "no evidence that any of the Israelis were involved in the 9/11 attacks, or that they had any advance knowledge of the attacks." A partially declassified FBI report from 2005 expanded on this conclusion. The report affirmed that the men were indeed Israeli nationals and that the FBI had investigated the possibility that Urban Moving Systems was a front for Israeli intelligence operations in the United States.

The report noted, "The FBI investigation of these individuals has determined that none of them were actively involved in Israeli intelligence work on September 11, 2001." However, it also conceded that the possibility of some intelligence connection was not entirely ruled out for some of the individuals. The official reasoning for their celebratory behavior was that they were simply immature and inconsiderate. The men themselves, upon returning to Israel, gave an interview on a talk show. Oded Ellner explained their actions by saying, "The fact of the matter is we are coming from a country that experiences terror daily. Our purpose was to document the event." This explanation—that their reaction was one of relief that America was finally experiencing the kind of terror Israel faces—was offered as the reason for their seemingly inappropriate conduct.

While cleared of any terrorism-related charges, all five men were found to be in the country illegally, having breached the terms of their tourist and student visas by working for the moving company. They were removed from the United States in November 2001 on these immigration violations.

The Birth of a Conspiracy Theory

Despite the official FBI conclusion, the story of the Dancing Israelis quickly became a cornerstone of 9/11 conspiracy theories. The supporters of these theories point to a collection of facts they maintain are too suspicious to be coincidental:

This account was boosted by various online forums, documentaries, and publications in the years following 9/11. It often merges with broader, more harmful theories alleging that Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, orchestrated the 9/11 attacks to involve the United States in conflicts in the Middle East that would aid Israeli interests. Organizations like the Anti-Defamation League ADL have categorized the Dancing Israelis theory as an antisemitic canard, contending that it "conflates the actions of a few individuals with the Israeli government and Jews in general."

Rebuttals and Situational Analysis

Those who defend the official account and rebut the conspiracy theories provide perspective for the seemingly suspicious elements. They argue that the conspiratorial interpretation hinges on a series of logical fallacies and a neglect for more believable explanations.

• The Box Cutters: While an eerie coincidence, box cutters were and are a standard tool for employees of a moving company. Their presence in a work van is wholly unremarkable when viewed in that context.
• The Cash and Passports: For foreign nationals working, potentially illegally, and living together, pooling cash is not out of the ordinary. Multiple passports could be justified by dual citizenships, which are common for Israelis.
• The "Document the Event" Quote: The phrase can be read in two hugely different ways. The official interpretation is that, upon seeing the news, they went to a viewpoint to take pictures of a historic, shocking event, just as thousands of others were doing across the river. The conspiratorial view demands it means documenting a pre-planned mission.
• The FBI's Investigation: The most forceful counterargument is the result of the extensive FBI investigation itself. Despite having every incentive to find a foreign intelligence connection to 9/11, the FBI's counter-terrorism experts found there was no link or foreknowledge. The declassified documents, while acknowledging suspicions about an intelligence front, ultimately cleared the men of any involvement in the attacks.

The story of the Dancing Israelis remains a intriguing case study in how unrelated facts, suspicious circumstances, and a climate of fear can merge to create a powerful and long-lasting conspiracy theory. It underscores the gap that often exists between official explanations and public skepticism, a gap that is frequently filled with alternative narratives that, for some, provide a more satisfying or emotionally resonant explanation for a traumatic event than the complicated and sometimes unsettling truth.