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After the September 11 attacks, rumors swirled about strange coincidences, including a report of a group of Middle Eastern men spotted across the river from New York City on the morning of the attacks. ABC News' exclusive report describes how the FBI and CIA took more than two months to sort out the case, during which five Israelis were jailed.
A witness in New Jersey watched the Twin Towers burn and saw three men on top of a van posing for pictures with the burning towers in the background. She noted that they seemed happy and not shocked, which she found very strange. The witness alerted police, who stopped the van hours later and arrested the five men, all of whom were Israeli. They were turned over to the FBI. Sources told ABC News that during a check of national security databases some of the men were listed as having connections with Israeli intelligence, which set off alarm bells at the FBI.
The FBI focused on three questions: Who were these men? What brought them to that parking lot on the morning of September 11? And did they have any advanced knowledge of what was going to happen that day? The men claimed they were simply taking pictures. They said they worked for a company called Urban Moving. The FBI obtained a search warrant for the company's offices, where two SUVs were found loaded with between nine and twelve boxes and computers.
Shortly after the arrests, Urban Moving’s offices were abandoned, with almost everything left behind. While in jail, the five Israelis were repeatedly interrogated and given lie detector tests. Their American lawyer, Stephen Gordon, said they were asked whether they had ever been approached by or hired by any non-U.S. intelligence community.
The five Israelis were not involved in any intelligence operation in the United States, and the story of espionage was described as false. Ultimately, the FBI concluded there was no evidence that any of the five men had advanced knowledge of the September 11 plot. After seventy-one days, the Israelis were deported, leaving some tension among U.S. and Israeli officials. Federal officials stated the men were barred from returning to the United States for ten years for immigration violations.