Were 5 Israeli men arrested on 9/11 after being reported celebrating during the destruction of the WTC?
Executive summary
Yes — five Israeli nationals were arrested on September 11, 2001, after witnesses reported seeing a group filming and behaving in what some described as celebratory ways while the World Trade Center burned; they were employees of Urban Moving Systems, detained and interrogated, later deported, and there is no substantiated evidence in mainstream reporting that they were Mossad agents or complicit in the attacks themselves [1][2][3]antisemitic-conspiracies-about-911-endure-20-years-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[4].
1. The arrests and the eyewitness reports
Within hours of the plane strikes, New Jersey police and later the FBI detained five men seen near a white van with “Urban Moving Systems” on the side after an eyewitness reported they were filming the burning towers and some appeared to be celebrating; contemporary outlets including The New York Times and Ha’aretz reported the arrests as a response to “puzzling behavior” captured by observers [1][2][3].
2. Who the men were, what was found, and how authorities handled them
Reporting identifies the five as Sivan Kurzberg, Paul Kurzberg, Omer Marmari, Yaron Shmuel and Oded Ellner, employees of Urban Moving Systems; police recovered a box cutter in the van, cash and multiple passports, and immigration violations were later documented — the men spent weeks in custody while the FBI questioned them and ultimately signed documents admitting visa violations and returned to Israel [2][3]9/11/911-revisited-declassified-fbi-files-reveal-new-details-about-the-five-israelis/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[5].
**3. Images, behavior, and the unresolved optics**
Photographs and FBI notes show the men taking pictures with the smoldering skyline and at least one image depicts a lighter gesture that eyewitnesses and some reports described as mocking or celebratory, which fueled suspicion at the time and has fueled decades of speculation; mainstream sources stress that offensive behavior is not the same as proof of participation in the attacks [5][1][3].
4. Conspiracy claims versus the documentary record
The “Dancing Israelis” narrative — that Mossad agents were arrested in direct connection to carrying out 9/11 — became widespread among conspiracy communities, but organizations that track misinformation and antisemitism note the central claim (that five Israeli Mossad agents were arrested as part of a plot) is false or unproven; authoritative summaries emphasize that while the arrests and inflammatory behavior are factual, there is no credible evidence linking the detainees to planning or executing the attacks [6][4][1].
5. Alternate readings, agendas and lingering questions
Some outlets and commentators have argued the incident merited intense scrutiny and have pointed to oddities in the men’s conduct or in subsequent investigative threads, while other reporting—ranging from mainstream outlets to critical investigations—suggests a more mundane explanation: foreign nationals behaving badly, possible overreaction, and immigration enforcement rather than a covert intelligence operation; the persistence of the story illustrates how eyewitness impressions and disturbing images can be reframed into conspiracies that serve antisemitic or geopolitical agendas [7][5][4].
6. Bottom line
Precisely: five Israeli men were arrested on 9/11 after being reported filming and allegedly celebrating the attacks; they were employees of a moving company, detained for questioning and immigration violations, and deported — but available mainstream documentation does not support the claim that they were Mossad agents or that their arrest proves Israeli involvement in planning 9/11 [2][3][1][4].