The images of the World Trade Center attacks on September 11th, 2001, are indelibly etched in the minds of millions. Amidst the unfolding tragedy, a New Jersey resident, Maria, witnessed something that sparked an investigation into five young Israeli men and their potential connection to Israeli intelligence. This incident, often referred to as the “dancing Israelis,” continues to fuel speculation and conspiracy theories to this day.
Maria, whose last name was withheld for privacy, had a direct view of the World Trade Center from her apartment in New Jersey. Shortly after the first plane struck the North Tower, a neighbor alerted her to the unfolding catastrophe. Grabbing her binoculars, Maria watched in horror as smoke billowed from the iconic skyscraper. However, amidst the devastation, her attention was drawn to a peculiar scene in the parking lot of her own building.
According to Maria’s account, she observed three young men kneeling on the roof of a white van. “They seemed to be taking a movie,” she recounted. These men were not merely documenting the disaster; they were filming themselves with the burning World Trade Center as a backdrop. It was their demeanor that struck Maria as deeply unsettling. “They were like happy, you know… They didn’t look shocked to me. I thought it was very strange,” she stated. This unusual behavior led Maria to note down the van’s license plate number and contact the police, setting in motion a chain of events that involved the FBI and a statewide alert for the vehicle.
The license plate traced the van back to Urban Moving Systems. Later that afternoon, around 4 p.m. on September 11th, police located the van on a service road near Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Five men, aged between 22 and 27, were inside. Police officers, with guns drawn, apprehended and handcuffed the men. The subsequent search of the van and its occupants revealed several items that heightened suspicions. One man had $4,700 in cash concealed in his sock. Another carried two foreign passports. A box cutter was also discovered in the vehicle. Perhaps most significantly, the men identified themselves as Israeli citizens.
During questioning, one of the passengers reportedly told officers they had been on the West Side Highway in Manhattan “during the incident,” referring to the World Trade Center attack. Sivan Kurzberg, the driver, made a statement that further fueled suspicion: “We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem.” The other men were identified as Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Omer Marmari. This incident of the so-called “dancing Israelis” quickly became fodder for conspiracy theories, raising questions about their intentions and the meaning behind their seemingly celebratory behavior on a day of national tragedy.
