On the afternoon of September 11, 2001, as the United States grappled with the deadliest terrorist attacks in its history, a white Chevrolet van was pulled over by police in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Inside were five young Israeli men: Sivan Kurzberg, Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Omer Marmari. Their detention would eventually spawn one of the most enduring and controversial narratives associated with that day, often referred to in online circles as the "dancing Israelis" incident.

While the men were eventually cleared of any involvement in the attacks and deported for visa violations, the details of their arrest, the initial reports of their behavior, and the subsequent FBI investigation have remained a focal point for researchers and skeptics for over two decades.

The Morning of September 11 and the First Report

The sequence of events leading to the arrest began shortly after the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 AM. A resident of the Doric Towers in Union City, New Jersey, referred to in official documents as "Maria," was watching the smoke from her apartment window. According to her statement to the FBI and later media interviews, she noticed three young men on the roof of a white van in a nearby parking lot.

The witness reported that the men appeared to be filming the burning towers and, more strikingly, seemed to be acting in a manner she interpreted as celebratory. She described them as "smiling," "hugging each other," and "giving high fives." To a witness in a state of high alarm and shock, this perceived joviality was deeply suspicious. She noted the license plate of the van and contacted the local authorities.

This report became the catalyst for an immediate BOLO (Be On the Lookout) alert sent to law enforcement agencies across the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area. The alert described a "white 2000 Chevrolet van with New Jersey registration JRJ-13Y" and warned that the occupants might be involved in the day's events.

The Arrest in East Rutherford

At approximately 3:56 PM, nearly seven hours after the initial report, Officer Scott DeCarlo and Sergeant Kevin Moe of the East Rutherford Police Department spotted the van near the Giants Stadium. The officers conducted a high-risk traffic stop, ordering the occupants out of the vehicle at gunpoint.

According to police reports, the driver, Sivan Kurzberg, made a statement shortly after being detained that would later be scrutinized. He reportedly told the officers, "We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The palestinians are the problem."

The search of the vehicle yielded several items that intensified law enforcement's suspicion:

  • Approximately $4,700 in cash, some of it hidden in a sock.
  • Multiple foreign passports.
  • Maps of the city with certain locations highlighted.
  • Box cutters, which were the same type of tool used by the 9/11 hijackers.

The discovery of box cutters and the large amount of cash, combined with the earlier report of celebratory behavior, led the local police to notify the FBI immediately. The five men were taken into custody and moved to a federal detention center in Brooklyn.

Urban Moving Systems and Dominik Suter

The five men were employees of Urban Moving Systems, a moving company based in Weehawken, New Jersey. The company was owned by an Israeli national named Dominik Suter. As the FBI began its investigation into the five detainees, they also turned their attention to the company and its owner.

Investigators found that Urban Moving Systems was a small operation with a predominantly Israeli workforce. During a search of the company's warehouse, the FBI seized computer records and interviewed other employees. However, before he could be fully questioned, Dominik Suter left the United States and returned to Israel on September 14, 2001.

Suter’s sudden departure and the fact that he abandoned his business—leaving furniture and clients' belongings in storage—raised significant red flags for investigators. His name was later found on an FBI suspect list, though no formal charges were ever filed against him in connection with the 9/11 attacks. The abrupt closure of Urban Moving Systems fueled theories that the company may have served as a front for intelligence operations.

The FBI Investigation: The "High Fivers" Case

The FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Section took the lead in the investigation, opening a file internally referred to as the "High Fivers." For 71 days, the five men were interrogated and subjected to multiple polygraph (lie detector) tests.

The investigation focused on three primary questions:

  1. Did the men have prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks?
  2. Were they involved in any way with the hijackers?
  3. Were they active intelligence agents for the Israeli government?

The Polygraph Results

The polygraph tests yielded mixed results, which complicated the early stages of the investigation. Paul Kurzberg, for instance, refused to take a polygraph for several weeks on the advice of legal counsel. When he finally did, the results were reported as "deceptive" on certain questions regarding his knowledge of the events. Sivan Kurzberg also showed reactions interpreted as deceptive when asked if he had seen the planes hit the towers from the van's roof.

However, polygraph experts often note that tests conducted under extreme stress, especially in a foreign language and following a traumatic national event, are prone to inaccuracies. The FBI eventually moved beyond these results to look for physical or digital evidence of a conspiracy.

Forensic Analysis of the Photographs

The FBI seized the cameras and film found in the van. Upon development, the photos showed the men at Liberty State Park and other locations with the burning World Trade Center in the background. In one photo, Sivan Kurzberg was seen flicking a cigarette lighter in front of the smoke, a gesture that some investigators viewed as celebratory.

The men maintained that they were simply young travelers who recognized they were witnessing a historic event and wanted to document it. They argued that their "happy" demeanor was a result of youthful adrenaline and a failure to grasp the gravity of the tragedy in the moment, rather than a celebration of the deaths of thousands.

Were They Intelligence Agents?

One of the most persistent aspects of this story is the claim that the men were Mossad agents. The FBI investigation did find evidence that suggested at least some of the men had ties to Israeli intelligence or had served in specialized military units—a common trait among young Israeli men due to the country's mandatory military service.

In 2002, ABC News reported that the FBI had concluded that at least two of the men were on a watch list of suspected intelligence assets. Furthermore, some former U.S. intelligence officials suggested that Urban Moving Systems might have been used for "non-official cover" (NOC) surveillance of radical groups in the New York area.

However, the final conclusion of the FBI and the Department of Justice was that while the men may have been in the U.S. under questionable circumstances, there was no evidence they were involved in the 9/11 plot. Their surveillance, if any existed, was likely focused on groups within their own community or regional threats, and they were caught off guard by the attacks just as the rest of the world was.

Release and Deportation

By late October 2001, the FBI had completed its thorough background checks. They found no links between the five Israelis and the Al-Qaeda hijackers. No explosives were found in the van, despite initial reports that bomb-sniffing dogs had reacted to the vehicle (a reaction later attributed to the scent of chemicals common in moving equipment).

The men were eventually cleared of any "terrorism-related" suspicions. However, they were found to be in violation of their immigration status, having worked in the U.S. on tourist visas or having overstayed their legal entry.

In November 2001, following a high-level diplomatic negotiation between the U.S. and Israeli governments, the five men were released from federal custody. They were deported back to Israel, where they were met with significant media attention.

Post-Release and the Israeli TV Appearance

After returning to Israel, three of the men—Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner, and Sivan Kurzberg—appeared on an Israeli talk show to discuss their ordeal. During the interview, they denied any involvement in the attacks and expressed frustration at their treatment by U.S. authorities.

One quote from this interview, however, added more fuel to the conspiracy fire. One of the men stated, "The fact of the matter is we are coming from a country that experiences terror daily. Our purpose was to document the event."

Skeptics and conspiracy theorists seized on the phrase "to document the event," arguing that it implied they knew the event was going to happen and were there specifically to film it. The men later clarified that they meant they were documenting the unfolding disaster as it happened, just as hundreds of other people in New York and New Jersey were doing with their own cameras that morning.

Why the Narrative Persists in Popular Culture

The "dancing Israelis" story has become a staple of 9/11 "truther" communities and is frequently cited by various groups to suggest Israeli foreknowledge of the attacks. Several factors contribute to its longevity:

  1. The Mystery of Urban Moving Systems: The fact that Dominik Suter fled the country and the company vanished overnight remains a suspicious element that has never been fully explained to the public's satisfaction.
  2. Witness Testimony: The initial report from "Maria" was vivid and emotional. In the public consciousness, her interpretation of "celebration" became an objective fact, despite the men's alternative explanations.
  3. The "Box Cutters" Coincidence: The presence of box cutters in the van was a chilling coincidence given the hijackers' choice of weaponry. While a moving company would naturally have box cutters, the timing made it look like a "smoking gun" to early investigators.
  4. Information Vacuum: For years, many FBI documents regarding the case remained classified. This lack of transparency allowed rumors to fill the gaps. When documents were finally released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2005 and 2019, they were heavily redacted, which only fueled further speculation.
  5. Antisemitic Tropes: Unfortunately, the story has been co-opted by antisemitic groups to propagate the "Israel did 9/11" trope. This has made objective discussion of the actual police incident difficult, as the facts are often buried under layers of hate speech and misinformation.

Official Conclusions and Final Assessment

The 9/11 Commission Report did not mention the five Israelis, as the investigation by the FBI and CIA had already concluded months prior that they had no connection to the plot. U.S. authorities have consistently maintained that the men were exactly what they claimed to be at that moment: young, perhaps immature, foreign nationals who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and behaved inappropriately during a national tragedy.

The case remains a classic example of how "suspicious behavior" during a time of extreme crisis can be interpreted in vastly different ways depending on the observer's perspective and the prevailing climate of fear. While the "dancing Israelis" narrative continues to circulate online, the documented evidence points to a group of visa-violating workers rather than a team of conspirators.

FAQ

Were the men actually dancing?

The primary witness, "Maria," described them as "jovial," "smiling," and "giving high fives." While the media later used the term "dancing," the actual witness statements and FBI reports focus more on their perceived lack of shock and celebratory gestures (like the high fives) rather than literal dancing.

Did the FBI find explosives in their van?

No. While there was an initial report that a bomb-sniffing dog "hit" on the van, subsequent laboratory tests found no traces of explosives. The initial reaction was likely a "false positive" caused by common industrial cleaners or chemicals used in the moving business.

Why did the owner of Urban Moving Systems flee to Israel?

Dominik Suter never gave a formal public explanation for his departure. However, it is speculated that as an Israeli national running a business with illegal workers, he feared the massive federal crackdown on immigrants and foreign businesses that followed 9/11. By the time the FBI returned to question him further, he had already left the country.

Did the men have cameras set up before the first plane hit?

There is no evidence to support the claim that they had cameras set up prior to 8:46 AM. The witness "Maria" only noticed them after the first tower was already burning and the event had become public.

What happened to the five men after they returned to Israel?

They returned to private life. Except for a few media appearances shortly after their deportation, they have largely avoided the public eye and have not engaged with the various conspiracy theories that continue to use their names.

Summary

The "dancing Israelis" incident on 9/11 is a complex intersection of factual law enforcement action and post-event myth-making. Five men were indeed arrested based on a witness report of suspicious behavior. They were investigated thoroughly by the FBI, held for over two months, and eventually cleared of any involvement in the terrorist attacks. While their behavior was deemed "puzzling" and their employer's sudden disappearance remains a point of intrigue, no evidence has ever linked them to the Al-Qaeda plot. The persistence of the story today is largely driven by the internet's ability to preserve and amplify the suspicions of that chaotic morning, long after the official investigations were closed.