9/11 Living Memorial in the Jerusalem Hills

The 9/11 Living Memorial in the Jerusalem hills, near the community of Arazim, is the only memorial outside the United States that lists the names of all 2,977 victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The memorial, designed by the Israeli artist Eliezer Weishoff, was dedicated in 2009 and sits on a hilltop overlooking the Jerusalem Corridor with views toward the capital.

The Memorial Design – 9/11 Living Memorial in the Jerusalem Hills

The centerpiece of the memorial is a bronze and steel sculpture in the shape of an American flag that transforms into a flame, representing both the destruction of the Twin Towers and the resilience of the human spirit. The sculpture stands on a base of gray granite, and the ground around it is inscribed with the names of all 2,977 victims, including five Israeli citizens who were killed in the attacks. The memorial was designed by Eliezer Weishoff and structurally engineered by Thomas Hanlon, an American architect who helped bring the design from concept to completion. The flag-and-flame sculpture rises about 30 feet, and a genuine piece of steel wreckage recovered from the World Trade Center site is embedded in the base of the monument, giving the memorial a direct physical connection to Ground Zero. The names are arranged in panels around the base, and visitors often walk slowly from panel to panel, pausing at individual names just as they do at the memorial in Lower Manhattan.

The American Connection

Israel was the first country to establish a national memorial honoring all the victims of the September 11 attacks by name. The project was initiated by the Jewish National Fund and supported by American and Israeli donors who wanted to create a permanent expression of the bond between the two nations. The dedication ceremony in November 2009 drew American diplomats, families of victims, and Israeli government officials. For American visitors, encountering this memorial thousands of miles from New York, Washington, and Shanksville carries a particular emotional weight. It is a reminder that the events of that day resonated far beyond American borders and that Israel, a country that has known terrorism intimately, felt the loss as its own.

The Forest Setting

The memorial is set in the Arazim Valley in the Jerusalem Hills, surrounded by forest. The approach follows a path through a grove of trees, each planted in memory of a victim. The combination of the monument, the names, the living trees, and the view creates a contemplative space that connects the American tragedy to the Jerusalem landscape. The forest setting gives the memorial a sense of life and renewal that distinguishes it from urban memorials. Birds move through the branches overhead, the wind carries the smell of pine, and the landscape changes with the seasons. The choice to plant trees rather than simply build in stone reflects a deeply rooted idea in Jewish tradition: that memory is sustained not only by monuments but by living things that grow and endure.

Visit with Hoshen Tours

The 9/11 Living Memorial in the Jerusalem Hills is the only one outside the United States that lists every victim by name. Hoshen Tours pairs it with the nearby cemetery at Kiryat Anavim, the nature reserve at HaMasrek Nature Reserve, the Crusader spring at Ein Hemed, and the ancient terraces at Sataf.