Elhanan Tannenbaum is an Israeli reserve officer who was captured by Hezbollah in 2000 and later released in a prisoner exchange. An earlier opening called Hezbollah the Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah, and by 2020 the opening called it the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Today the word militant appears nowhere in the article, and the opening says only that he was captured by Hezbollah. A reader arriving now learns Tannenbaum was captured and later exchanged, not that Wikipedia once called Hezbollah a terrorist, then a militant, group.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today it appears nowhere in the article, references included.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Elchanan Tenenbaum , (born August 12 , 1946 ) is a retired colonel in the Israel Defense Force . Tenenbaum's capture was announced on October 16 , 2000 by the Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah after being lured out of Israel under circumstances unknown at the time of this writing. It is alleged he was lured into an ambush by Hizbullah under false pretenses. These pretenses are rumored to be a business deal or possibly a drug deal, though the Israeli government denies the latter. It is believed he was either captured in Europe and taken to Lebanon or captured in the United Arab Emirates after traveling there from Belgium and then transported back to Lebanon. His abduction is believed to have been conducted by Imad Mugniyah , a senior member of Hizbullah. Tenenbaum was released in 2004 as part of POW swap with Hizbullah. The swap, mediated by Germany , resulted in the exchange of 435 prisoners held by Israel in return for Tenenbaum's release and the return of the bodies of three soldiers killed during an ambush along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Among the 435 people released were Mustafa Dirani and Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid . These two individuals were captured, in 1994 and 1989 respectively, for use as bargaining chips in the effort to secure the release of the most famous of the Israeli MIAs , Ron Arad . Fearing the release of these men would end any hope of finding Arad, his family attempted to take legal action to prevent their release. Nothing came of this effort.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16270246.
The opening as it stood in 2010 12 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Elhanan Tannenbaum , ( , born 12 August 1946) is an Israeli businessman and formerly a colonel in the Israel Defense Forces , who was kidnapped for some years by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 365127892.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Elhanan Tannenbaum , ( , born 12 August 1946) is an Israeli businessman and a former reserve colonel in the Israel Defense Forces , who was kidnapped in 2000 and held for more than three years by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 664376906.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Elhanan Tannenbaum , ( , born 12 August 1946) was a reserve colonel in the Israel Defense Forces and "shady" businessman, who was kidnapped in 2000 and held for more than three years by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962188013.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Israeli Defence Forces colonel Elhanan Tannenbaum , ( , born 12 August 1946) is an Israeli colonel (res.), who was kidnapped in 2000 and held for more than three years by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah .He was released in a prisoner exchange, together with the bodies of several Israeli soldiers, for 435 Arab prisoners held by Israel.After his release from Hezbollah, Tannenbaum was not charged for any crime in Israel, after a plea bargain.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1176934026.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Israeli drug smuggler and reserve officer kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2000 (1946–2024) Elhanan Tannenbaum , ( Hebrew : אלחנן טננבוים ; 12 August 1946 – 7 October 2024) was a "shady businessman and a colonel in the reserves" in the IDF who was captured by Hezbollah.In 2000 he was lured to Dubai , offered a "lucrative drug deal", captured by Hezbollah , and transferred to Lebanon. He was released in a prisoner exchange, together with the bodies of several Israeli soldiers, for 435 Arab prisoners held by Israel. After his release from Hezbollah, Tannenbaum was not charged for any crime in Israel, after a plea bargain.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1289316795. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“militant” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today it appears nowhere in the article, references included. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
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Oct '23
2025
militant
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terror
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 6 October 2023.
Then
israeli businessman and formerly a colonel in the israel defense forces
Now
israeli colonel
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.
