FBI re "Dancing Israeli" files FOIA

[Michael K.]

Editor's Note: The story of the Dancing Israelis remains one of the most controversial and explosive untold stories of Sept. 11, 2001. Previous efforts to analyze this aspect of 9/11 have been mostly emotive OpEds and conspiratorial rants – until now. Writer Greg Fernandez presents some new declassified FBI material as part of a newly compiled and highly detailed account of this chilling chapter in the 21st century's most iconic event.

http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/09/11/911-revisited-declassified-fbi-files-reveal-new-details-about-the-five-israelis/

(Excerpts:)

Added to the long list of strange events that happened on September 11th is the infamous story of the five Israeli nationals who were arrested by New Jersey police officers in connection with the WTC attacks on the day. The five suspects were held in detention for three months while the FBI investigated their "jovial" behavior after the North Tower was struck by an aircraft. As the North Tower burned, witnesses saw three young men "high-fiving" each other and appearing to be celebrating the worst attack in American history. One eyewitness wrote down the license plate of the men's vehicle and called police. It didn't take long for New Jersey's finest to locate the van and find traces of explosive materials inside.

What Was Not Found

Newark FBI agents also wrote about what was not found, "Oddly, equipment typically used in a moving company's daily duties was not found, including work gloves, blankets, straps, ropes, boxes, dollies, rollers, ect. Also not found was the video camera that [ – ] observed at least one of the males using to film the explosion at WTC." When Newark's Criminal Division interviewed the detainees about what might have been on the missing video camera, "it was determined that several of the detainees had, by their own admission, [ – ]." Lied? Though four of the five Israeli nationals were given polygraph tests, only two of them were given polygraph tests specifically related to the alleged video camera that was used to film "the WTC explosions."

Two FBI special agents from Newark conducted a "follow-up investigation" on September 20th, 2001. The two agents "conducted the review in an attempt to locate the green lighter shown in one of the photographs, locate evidence of a video camera and to determine the accuracy of the time/date LCD readout on the Canon EOS 2000 camera. After completing the search of the van and its contents, both agents were unable to locate the lighter or video camera and any evidence of a video camera."
An FBI laboratory file points out that a TDK-160 VHS video tape (K1966) was received on October 1st, 2001, adding that "the results of the video tape examination are included in this report."

Explosive Evidence

Inside the van authorities found "a positive result for the presence of explosive traces." According to the declassified FBI files, "A search of the van and individuals was conducted at the time of the vehicle stop. The vehicle was also searched by a trained bomb-sniffing dog which yielded a positive result for the presence of explosive traces. Swabs of the vehicle's interior were taken, and those samples were sent to the FBI laboratory for further analysis. Final results are still pending."

Officer DeCarlo, or one of the other officers on the scene, notified the Bergen County Bomb Squad, "Bergen County Bomb Squad dispatched. 1856 – Bergen County PD requests ERES and ERFD to stand by at the ramp from the Sports Complex to the NJ TRPKE."

The FBI found at least four "items" related to explosive material inside the van:
Item # 15 is listed as a "Fabric Sample (Explosive Residue)"
Item #16 is listed as "Control Swabs – SA [ – ] Gloves"
Item #17 is listed as "Control Swabs – (Bomb Suits)"
Item #34 is listed as "Blanket Samples For Explosive Residue"
A videotape and several still photographs "were sent to Laboratory Examiner [ – ] (Explosives Unit)."

Not mentioned in the declassified FBI files was the alleged NYPD audio recording about an explosion inside of a truck. Officers requested the "bomb squad" assist them on King Street. It's unclear if this truck is in any way related to the numerous vans mentioned in the FBI files, "We need to put some [inaudible] north of 6th Ave, [inaudible], all I know is remote control planes filled with explosives." The police radio recording between several New York City Police officers on September 11th, 2001 specifically mentioned a "big truck with a mural painted of an airplane diving into New York City and exploding. Don't know what's in the truck. The truck is in between 6th and 7th on King Street."

The bomb squad was en route to King Street when one of the officers spoke about a mural on the side of the truck, "...with a mural painted, airplane diving into New York blowing up...two men got out of the truck, ran away from it. We got those two under..." A minute later, another officer reported, "We have both suspects under, k. We have the suspects who driv- drove in the van, the van exploded. We have both of them under, k. Let's get some help over here...we have both [inaudible] that exploded, is that correct?"

Multiple White Vans

On September 20th, 2001, Newark FBI agents interviewed a female employee of Urban Moving Systems at her home in Union City, New Jersey. She told the FBI "that Urban Moving Company had only one white van, which did not have any lettering on either side reflecting the name of the company. However, she recalled seeing magnetic panels with lettering for Urban Moving Company in the office at some point in the past. On the day of the Twin Towers being struck by aircraft, she could not recall seeing the white van owned by the company in its usual parking space on the side of the building."

On September 17th, 2001, two FBI special agents went to the Urban Moving Systems location "to obtain information about how Urban's employees record that they have arrived for work (time cards, for example)." While at the Urban Moving Systems office and warehouse, FBI agents saw several trucks parked in the parking lot behind the building. Three of them were white trucks, not vans, with Urban Moving Systems written on the side of the vehicles.

One truck had Urban Moving Systems written in black lettering and the other two had orange and black lettering on both sides. Another white Urban Moving Systems truck had no license plate, and had nothing written on the sides of the trailer.

"After the polygraph," one of the two Israelis arrested in Pennsylvania "admitted to being untruthful regarding his employment status (he stated he wasn't getting paid by Urban Moving, but only helping [ – ]. Later he admitted that he was, in fact, getting paid directly by Urban Moving), the employment status of his [ -] (he stated that she didn't work at all and was visiting from Israel...he later admitted that she did work in the U.S. [ – ] but didn't want to get her in trouble). When questioned about whether he was untruthful about matters pertaining to the terrorist incident, [ – ] said absolutely not."

On September 13th, 2001, two of the five Israeli nationals were given polygraph tests "concerning the issue of whether a video camera had been used to film the crash of an aircraft into the WTC" after "inconsistencies were found in the statements of the five (5) detained Israelis, and the interviews conducted of T-1 [the woman who saw the Israeli with a video camera] and other tenants of the Doric Towers apartments."

"The two men denied having a video camera." FBI agents "then obtained a search warrant to search the offices of Urban Moving Systems in Weehawken, NJ." Authorities did not find the video camera but they did seize "fifteen (15) computers and a network server." FBI agents "noted the unusually large number of computers relative to the number of employees for such a fairly small business. Further investigation identified several pseudo-names or aliases associated with Urban Moving Systems and its operations."

During the polygraph tests, one of the Israelis admitted "that he had been employed as a [ – ] in Israel with responsibility for [ – ] in Israel." In one of the Israelis "personal notebooks was a business card for NIS, a business dealing in "General Services" and "Drivers Licenses," telephone number [ – ]. According to FBI records, that telephone number is referenced in a Miami investigation as subscribed [ – ]."

Four of the five detainees were given polygraph examinations not specifically related to the alleged video camera. "Numerous discrepancies in their statements, specifically as to their location during the time immediately preceding the attack on the WTC, as well as photographs in which some of the Israelis appear visibly happy by the attacks led FBI-NK to further pursue a possible criminal link between these Israelis and the events associated with the WTC." After the polygraph tests were completed, "The number of discrepancies in the statements made by the five (5) Israelis continues to increase." Why only four of the five Israeli nationals were given polygraph tests has not been revealed yet.

During the interviews with FBI agents, one of the five Israeli nationals "never fully revealed to the satisfaction of interviewing agents, how hand written telephone numbers found in his personal notebook just happened to be [ – ]. In lite of the seriousness of Newark's investigation, and considering the totality of mounting circumstantial evidence indicating either direct or indirect links between the Five (5) Israeli Nationals [ – ]. Newark found no basis to suggest [ – ] was in possession of or had any prior knowledge relating to the attacks of the World Trade Center."

Also, a phone number was found inside a notepad belonging to one of the five Israeli nations. "The overseas telephone number [ – ] was coincidentally subscribed to by an individual in South America with authentic ties to Islamic militants in the middle east [ – ]. This number was later identified as a legitimate bank account belonging to a friend of [ – ] who lent him two hundred dollars ($200)."

At least one of the five Israeli nationals was "working for the Israeli Government through his employment" for an undisclosed business. This "belief" was based on "physical evidence as well as [ – ] statements to Special Agents of the FBI."

The FBI files also revealed some interesting information about Urban Moving Systems, "A search of Urban Moving Systems, Weehawken, NJ, revealed more oddities which caused the search team leader to characterize the company as a possible "fraudulent operation." Little evidence of a legitimate business operation was found. Evidence recovery agents did seize, however, sixteen (16) separate computer units used by Urban Moving Systems. The FBI presence at the Urban Moving Systems search site drew the attention of the local media and was later reported on both television and in the local press. A former Urban Moving Systems employee later contacted the Newark Division with information indicating that he had quit his employment with Urban Moving Systems due to high amount of anti-American sentiment present among Urban's employees. The former employee stated that an Israeli employee of Urban had even once remarked, "Give us twenty years and we'll take over your media and destroy your country.""

FBI agents seized fifteen or sixteen Urban Moving Systems computers, and a server, and sent them to "Newark's Franklin Township RA." The "oddities" with Urban Moving Systems, along with "the deception over the alleged usage of a video camera by its Israeli employees, and the observed positive reaction (by the Israeli detainees) to the explosions at WTC" caused "Newark Squad C-9" FBI agents to investigate further. What they investigated further is also censored.

However, wherever the investigation led to, it involved the assistance of "Agents of the NYO" because of "their knowledge and past investigations." Based on the heavily censored FBI reports, the investigation seemed to involve FBI agents from San Diego and Miami. "Based on information provided by the Miami Division, Newark detained (initially) and interviewed four (4) employees of Classic International Movers, a New Jersey based moving company which was believed by Miami to have been used by one of the nineteen (19) alleged hijackers involved in the terrorist attacks. All four employees, Israeli nationals, had served in the Israeli military, and entered the U.S. from various locations in South America."