Exactly 20 years ago, on September 11, 2001, Daniel Levin was on a completely routine flight from Boston to Los Angeles.
After a glorious service in the IDF, intensive studies and the establishment of a successful company, he was at the peak of his career, the owner of a company worth a fortune, but minutes after takeoff, everything went wrong.
Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked the plane and hit the northern tower of the Twin Towers.
Daniel Levin, in an act of extraordinary heroism, became the first killer of that bloody day, claiming the lives of 2,977 people, including four Israelis.
The twin towers are on fire // Photo: AP,
Daniel was born in Denver Colorado and when he was 14 he immigrated to Jerusalem with his family.
In parallel with his studies at the ORT school near the Hebrew University, he worked at a gym and practiced sports.
Among other things, he won the Mr. Israel Award for Youth in Bodybuilding.
After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the General Staff patrol and later took an officers' course.
At the end of four years of service he was discharged with the rank of major.
During his military service he studied Arabic and often operated beyond the borders of Israel.
Senior officers we approached in an attempt to understand what exactly Levin did refused to tell.
"It's complicated," they evaded.
Upon completion of his military service he studied mathematics and electrical engineering, and then studied for a master's degree in computer science at MIT, where he met Tom Layton, a professor of applied mathematics.
In 1999, they founded Akamai, a company that specializes in disseminating information.
The company was an almost immediate success and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
At 29, the company was worth billions of dollars.
On September 11, 2001, Daniel was on his way to an Internet conference and meeting with clients.
But about a quarter of an hour after the plane took off it was hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists.
It was Flight 11 of American Airlines, and the plane began to make its final journey to the North Tower of the Twin Towers, even though the passengers did not know it at the time.
The United States flag is hoisted at the scene of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers // Photo: API,
"One of the passengers in the business class was stabbed," one of the flight attendants reported to the inspection center minutes later.
It was the first confirmation of what was happening in those minutes on a plane making its way to Manhattan.
It was Levin, who was stabbed after apparently realizing what was going on behind the scenes.
The flight attendants told the airline staff during the flight that the hijackers stabbed two of the flight attendants - Keren Martin and Barbara Arstegoy, and slit Daniel Levin's throat.
A commission of inquiry held in Congress after the disaster revealed that Levin apparently tried to assault the kidnappers but was stabbed by another kidnapper who was sitting behind him.
"While the terrorist was moving from the business class to the cockpit Daniel Levin, who was sitting in a row just behind Ata (Muhammad Ata, the leader of the attack trained as a pilot) and Omari ('Abd al-'Aziz al-Omari) was stabbed by one of the hijackers, who was sitting behind him," the report said. Commission of Inquiry.
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden // Photo: Reuters,
"Levin served about four years as an officer in the Israeli army. It is possible that he made an attempt to stop the kidnappers in front of him without realizing that another terrorist was sitting behind him." Appreciated members of Congress. Levin was stabbed and killed by terrorist Stam al-Sukami, becoming the first person killed in the twin disaster. A few minutes later the plane collided violently with the northern tower, thus beginning the attack on the Twin Towers - the most severe terrorist attack in human history.
"During the disaster, we found out he was on the plane," Daniel's brother, Michael Levin, told Israel Today. He notes that two days before the twin disaster, his parents were visiting the United States and then returned to Israel. "We did not initially hear about his act of heroism, but we assumed he did something. He would not let the terrorists take over the plane. We knew his behavior. When the FBI came and told us about the investigation we were proud, and we knew he did the right thing."
About a week and a half ago, members of the Levin family marked the Hebrew date of the disaster. Despite the long years since the attack took place, the struggle is still not over. Daniel's parents are still fighting with other families for compensation from Saudi Arabia, from which most of the terrorists came.
"The important thing to understand from this attack is to stand up to evil and not let aggression win. That was what led Daniel both in business and as a former chief of staff on the plane.
One must know how to stand up to the forces of evil, a struggle that the people of Israel have been at the forefront of for centuries.
Understand that we are all facing the same enemies and need to fight them.
This campaign did not start with the twins but much earlier, and it did not end.
Bin Laden's war against the West is our same ongoing war against Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIS.
We continue the campaign even though the world is slowing down.
We will lead the war and in the end we will win. "
"We do not think in terms of justice. After twenty years of unsuccessful war had to go out, but the idea was right. Immediately after the attack there was elation, to go out and try to correct, to fight against the evil regime. It is not always aimed at the right places, lots of mistakes were made "But the idea that" the United States has tried to do good in the world is a blessed thing, "Daniel's brother concluded.
