Hudson and Bergen Counties: The Operating Base of the Israeli New Jersey Group

While the Israeli DEA groups were active in Hollywood and elsewhere in the United States, another group of Israelis (the “Israeli New Jersey Group” and, collectively with the Israeli DEA Groups, the “Israeli Groups”) was operating in Hudson and Bergen Counties in northeastern New Jersey. The Israeli New Jersey Group appears to have been unknown to federal and state law enforcement authorities until September 11, 2001.

On that day, immediately after the first aircraft, the North Tower Plane, crashed into the World Trade Center, a resident of Bergen County, New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from lower Manhattan, became alarmed when she saw a group of men celebrating “on the roof of a white van in the parking lot of her apartment building.” ⁷⁷ She wrote down the license number of the van and called the police. The police were told that the men were “posing, dancing and laughing against the background” ⁷⁸ of the disaster, which could be plainly seen across the river. The men were “smiling and exchanging high-fives.” ⁷⁹ An FBI alert was promptly issued:

“Vehicle possibly related to New York terrorist attack. White, 2000 Chevrolet van ⁸⁰ with New Jersey registration with 'Urban Moving Systems' sign on back seen . . . at the time of first impact of jetliner into World Trade Center. Three individuals with van were seen celebrating after initial impact and subsequent explosion. FBI Newark Field Office requests that, if the van is located, hold for prints and detain individuals." ⁸¹

The men were five Israeli citizens, Sivan Kurzberg (the driver of the van), Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner and Omer Marmari. The van was finally stopped in East Rutherford, New Jersey at 3:56 P.M. The driver and passengers were arrested by Sergeant Rivelli and Officers DeCarlo and Yannacone of the East Rutherford Police Department.

The local police were soon joined by other law enforcement authorities. Sivan Kurzberg was asked several times to come out of the van but, fumbling with a black leather pouch, refused to do so. Officer DeCarlo then forcibly removed him. The FBI agents who arrived on the scene or were otherwise involved included Kevin Donovan, Daniel O’Brien and Robert F. Taylor, Jr. The FBI ultimately took control of the individuals, the evidence in the van, and the investigation.

Sources close to the investigation said they found in the van “maps of the city . . . with certain places highlighted,” adding that “it looked like . . . they knew what was going to happen.” ⁸²

Yaron Shmuel lied to the police as to where the men were at the time of the World Trade Center attacks, saying that they were on the West Side Highway in New York (not celebrating across the Hudson in New Jersey). He gave his address as 1345 Drexel Avenue in Miami Beach, Florida (not far from Hollywood). Mr. Ellner was carrying $4,700 in a sock-like sack. Sivan Kurzberg told the police at the time of his arrest--

“We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are [now?] our problems. The Palestinians are the problem.” ⁸³

All of the men were handcuffed, placed on the grass and given Miranda warnings. A sixth member of the Group, Dominik Suter of Fair Lawn, New Jersey, also an Israeli national and the owner of Urban Moving, was later questioned by the FBI at the company’s offices in Weehawken. The FBI searched Urban Moving's premises for several hours, and removed boxes of documents and a dozen computer hard drives. ⁸⁴

The Leader of the Israeli New Jersey Group Flees to Israel and Becomes an FBI Suspect

Flees to Israel and Becomes an FBI Suspect When the FBI attempted to interview Mr. Suter once more a few days later, he had fled the United States for Israel along with his family. ⁸⁵ According to the New Jersey State Division of Consumer Affairs, Urban Moving’s premises were closed on September 14, 2001. On December 7, 2001 a New Jersey judge allowed the state to seize its property. Early in 2002, the New York Department of Transportation revoked Urban Moving’s license to do business in that state. ⁸⁶

Dominik Suter is included on the May 2002 FBI Suspect List, along with Mohamed Atta and the other hijackers and suspects, under that name and two others he has apparently used, Omit Suter and Omit Levinson. ⁸⁷ He is given two addresses in New Jersey, his apparent residence in Fair Lawn and an address in Jersey City, very close to that of a number of other FBI suspects. ⁸⁸ Though he had fled, Mr. Suter’s name did not appear on the October 2001 FBI Suspect List. This may be because in early October 2001 the FBI was unaware that Urban Moving was operating in the same area as the future hijackers of the Pentagon Plane and visiting hijackers from Florida including Mohamed Atta (see below).

Hudson and Bergen Counties: The Staging Ground for the Future Hijackers of the Pentagon Plane

It soon became apparent, however, that Hudson and Bergen Counties were the second most important locus of the future hijackers’ U.S. operation and was the staging ground for the hijacking of the Pentagon Plane. The May 2002 FBI Suspect List shows, unlike its October 2001 predecessor, that all five future hijackers of the Pentagon Plane, Khaled al Mihdhar, Nawaf al Hazmi, Salem al Hazmi, Majed Moqed ⁸⁹ and Hani Hanjour (the pilot) lived or had mailing addresses or were otherwise active in towns closely interspersed, within about a four-mile radius, with the towns of the Israeli New Jersey Group (Weehawken, Jersey City, Fair Lawn and Rutherford). The future hijackers’ towns included Paterson, ⁹⁰ Fort Lee, ⁹¹ Totowa, ⁹² Hoboken ⁹³ and Elmwood Park. ⁹⁴ There were also FBI Suspects in Jersey City, ⁹⁵ Harrison, ⁹⁶ Seacaucus and Hackensack. ⁹⁷ See Map 3.

Atta, al Omari, and Ahmed al Ghamdi, though based in Hollywood and (al Ghamdi) Delray Beach, Florida, were among the hijackers who had addresses in Paterson, Fort Lee and Elmwood Park as well as in South Wayne. Up to six or more of the hijackers appear to have lived on Union Avenue in Paterson at one time or another between March and August 31, 2001. ⁹⁸

The FBI’s Conclusion: The Israeli New Jersey Group were Mossad Intelligence Operatives Spying on Local Arabs in Hudson and Bergen Counties

There have been a number of press reports in the United States on the Israeli New Jersey Group, most notably in the Forward. In the same article that reported on the Israeli DEA Groups, the Forward states that the nature of the FBI’s review of the case changed after the names of two of the five Israelis appeared on a CIA-FBI database of foreign intelligence operatives. This has been confirmed by a former chief of operations for counter-terrorism with the CIA. ⁹⁹ At that point, the FBI launched a foreign counter-intelligence investigation. All five of the men underwent polygraph tests, one of them seven times. At the end of that investigation, the FBI concluded that the Israeli New Jersey Group had been conducting a surveillance mission for Mossad, and that Urban Moving served as a Mossad front. ¹⁰⁰ They further concluded that the Israelis were “spying on local Arabs.” ¹⁰¹