Wikipedia's first sentence called it “unpublished letter to zionist diplomat nahum sokolow issued by the french government in 1917 during the first w”. Today it says “unpublished letter by french diplomat jules cambon to zionist diplomat nahum sokolow”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
Cambon Letter (first page) The Cambon letter was an unpublished letter by French diplomat Jules Cambon to Zionist diplomat Nahum Sokolow . It was issued by the French government in June 1917 during the First World War , announcing support for the Zionist project in Palestine , then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. It read: You were good enough to present the project to which you are devoting your efforts, which has for its object the development of Jewish colonization in Palestine.You consider that, circumstances permitting, and the independence of the Holy Places being safeguarded on the other hand, it would be a deed of justice and of reparation to assist, by the protection of the Allied Powers, in the renaissance of the Jewish nationality in that Land from which the people of Israel were exiled so many centuries ago. The French Government, which entered this present war to defend a people wrongfully attacked, and which continues the struggle to assure the victory of right over might, can but feel sympathy for your cause, the triumph of which is bound up with that of the Allies. I am happy to give you herewith such assurance. It has been argued that the letter was a necessary precondition of the Balfour Declaration .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1283291966.
The opening as it stood in 2020
The Cambon Letter The Cambon letter was an unpublished letter to Zionist diplomat Nahum Sokolow issued by the French government in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the Zionist project in Palestine , then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. It read: You were good enough to present the project to which you are devoting your efforts, which has for its object the development of Jewish colonization in Palestine.You consider that, circumstances permitting, and the independence of the Holy Places being safeguarded on the other hand, it would be a deed of justice and of reparation to assist, by the protection of the Allied Powers, in the renaissance of the Jewish nationality in that Land from which the people of Israel were exiled so many centuries ago. The French Government, which entered this present war to defend a people wrongfully attacked, and which continues the struggle to assure the victory of right over might, can but feel sympathy for your cause, the triumph of which is bound up with that of the Allies. I am happy to give you herewith such assurance. It has been argued that the letter was a necessary precondition of the Balfour Declaration .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 925641613.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1917 Zionist document The Cambon Letter The Cambon letter was an unpublished letter by French diplomat Jules Cambon to Zionist diplomat Nahum Sokolow . It was issued by the French government in 1917 during the First World War , announcing support for the Zionist project in Palestine , then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. It read: You were good enough to present the project to which you are devoting your efforts, which has for its object the development of Jewish colonization in Palestine.You consider that, circumstances permitting, and the independence of the Holy Places being safeguarded on the other hand, it would be a deed of justice and of reparation to assist, by the protection of the Allied Powers, in the renaissance of the Jewish nationality in that Land from which the people of Israel were exiled so many centuries ago. The French Government, which entered this present war to defend a people wrongfully attacked, and which continues the struggle to assure the victory of right over might, can but feel sympathy for your cause, the triumph of which is bound up with that of the Allies. I am happy to give you herewith such assurance. It has been argued that the letter was a necessary precondition of the Balfour Declaration .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1134520329.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “unpublished letter to zionist diplomat nahum sokolow issued by the french government in 1917 during the first w”. Today it says “unpublished letter by french diplomat jules cambon to zionist diplomat nahum sokolow”. Read the current article and compare.
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2020, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
unpublished letter to zionist diplomat nahum sokolow issued by the french government in 1917 during the first w
Now
unpublished letter by french diplomat jules cambon to zionist diplomat nahum sokolow
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
