(JNS) In the Jerusalem foothills, hundreds gathered on Wednesday at Israel’s 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza to mark the 24th anniversary of the attacks on the United States.

The ceremony, organized by Jewish National Fund-USA together with KKL-JNF and partners, brought together diplomats, firefighters, law enforcement officials, bereaved families, US students studying in Israel and participants in Jewish National Fund-USA missions.

The 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza in Jerusalem, designed by Eliezer Weishoff and architect Yechiel Cohen, September 11, 2025. Photo by Judy Lash Balint.

The memorial, the only site outside the US engraved with the names of the nearly 3,000 victims, features a 30-foot-high sculpture of an American flag transforming into flame. The base of the memorial includes a piece of metal from the ruins of the Twin Towers.

Among the attendees was David, a Vietnam veteran who moved to Israel ten years ago. He declined to give his last name, but told JNS he felt compelled to express his gratitude to US Ambassador Mike Huckabee. “Ambassador Huckabee is a righteous gentile,” he said. “He needs to be thanked, and I thanked him.”

Firefighter Neve Amar, dressed in the uniform of the New York Fire Department, explained that 9/11 had changed the course of his life. “I joined the department because of 9/11,” he told JNS. Amar is currently in Israel with the Emergency Volunteers Project, which trains American firefighters to assist Israeli firefighters during emergencies.

In his remarks, Huckabee said he wished there had never been a need for such a monument, but emphasized the importance of remembering. “On one of the most horrendous days, in which Americans were distraught with grief and roiling in anger, our friends in Israel stood with us,” he said. “And on Oct. 7 you saw that the people of America stood with you and still do.”

He recalled how firefighters became national heroes on 9/11. “When the world watched New York firefighters going into the buildings everyone else was leaving, people understood the heroic calling of that job,” he said. Huckabee noted that his father, a career firefighter, did not live to see that recognition.

He also spoke of Sarah Lowe, a young flight attendant from his hometown of Batesville, Arkansas, who died on one of the hijacked planes. After the ceremony, Ambassador and Mrs.Huckabee, who know Sarah’s parents, were able to find her name etched into the memorial.

Deb Lust Zaluda, National President of JNF-USA, told the audience that memorials such as this one were built not out of revenge but out of shared values.

“On 9/11, America, Israel and more than 90 nations lost nearly 3,000 souls,” she said. “The devastation and tragedy of 9/11 echo the devastation and tragedy of Oct. 7. They choose destruction; we choose life. They glorify death; we sanctify the living.”

American first responders pose for a photograph at the 9/11 memorial in Jerusalem, September 11, 2025.

Chief Thomas Galati, National Security Advisor to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, traveled to Israel as part of a delegation from his organization.

“On 9/11, I was a member of the NYPD at the World Trade Center that morning, and like so many others, I carry those images with me to this day,” he reflected. Galati recalled not only the loss of life on that day but also the toll on first responders in the years since.

He emphasized Israel’s role in helping the United States adjust to the new reality of global terrorism. “No one had more experience in counterterrorism than Israel, and they were willing to share their knowledge with us,” he stated.

“After 9/11, the United States was thrust into a new uncertain world of terrorism. We needed guidance and at that moment one of our strongest allies was Israel, particularly the Israeli national police and the Shin Bet. Their expertise, their lessons, their friendship helped us navigate this uncharted territory.

“That bond remains just as vital today and that’s also why we must acknowledge the horrors of Oct. 7.  What Israel endured on that day was every bit as shocking and every bit as brutal as what happened to America on 9/11. It was not only an attack on a nation; it was an attack on innocent families and on the very values we hold in common.”

The personal weight of the day was most evident in the testimony of bereaved families. Yehudit Levinhar, whose son Shay worked on the 103rd floor of the North Tower, said her pain remains as raw as it was in 2001. Shay had become a father just six weeks before he was killed. This year, his daughter Sapir placed a flower at the 9/11 memorial in New York. Peres Avraham, who also lost a daughter in the attacks, recited the mourners’ kaddish.

Captain Bill Licht, a New York-based United Airlines pilot on duty on 9/11, attended with the airline’s annual delegation. “It’s so evident the pain that lives on with the people who lost loved ones,” he told JNS. “It also emphasizes the closeness of our two democracies.”

Representatives of the US Embassy security staff echoed that sentiment. Master Sergeant Joel Moreno said it was “an honor to be here and to have an ally like Israel.”

Janet Huckabee, the ambassador’s wife, described the relationship between the two countries to JNS as one rooted in shared values. “I thank God that I was born in America, and I had the privileges that I did in America, but Israel is the only other country that is alike in the values that America has, and for me as a Judeo-Christian, all those values were founded right here. They started here in Israel, so when we say it’s like coming home, it’s really like coming home.”

The evening included a moving performance by 17-year-old Dafna Elyakim, who was kidnapped on Oct. 7 and released in the first hostage exchange. She joined Israeli singer Yonatan Artzi in performing a Hebrew song about returning home.

The ceremony concluded with the singing of “Hatikva,” led by the Lev Ofir Children’s Choir, made up of children from communities attacked on Oct.7. It was a gesture of resilience linking the memory of Sept. 11 with the ongoing struggle against terror.

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