Wikipedia's first sentence called it “linguistically and culturally diverse”. Today it says “not offered as answers by the survey)”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2025
The Israeli population is linguistically and culturally diverse. Hebrew is the country's official language, and almost the entire population speaks it either as a first language or proficiently as a second language . Its standard form, known as Modern Hebrew , is the main medium of life in Israel. Arabic is used mainly by Israel's Arab minority which comprises about one-fifth of the population. Arabic has a special status under Israeli law . English is known as a foreign language by a significant proportion of the Israeli population as English is used widely in official logos and road signs alongside Hebrew and Arabic. It is estimated that over 85% of Israelis can speak English to some extent. Russian is spoken by about 20% of the Israeli population, mainly due to the large immigrant population from the former Soviet Union . In addition, the 19th edition of Ethnologue lists 36 languages and dialects spoken through Israel. According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age, 49% report Hebrew as their native language, Arabic 18%, Russian 15%, Yiddish 2%, French 2%, English 2%, Spanish 1.6%, and 10% other languages (including Romanian , and Amharic , which were not offered as answers by the survey). This study also noted that 90% of Israeli Jews and over 60% of Israeli Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew. The State of Israel . Israel Central Bureau of Statistics .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1294084241.
The opening as it stood in 2010
A sign at the Ministry of the Interior/Ministry of Immigrant Absorption at the Government Village, Haifa . From top to bottom: Hebrew , Arabic , English , and Russian . The Israeli population is a linguistically and culturally diverse community. The 15 edition of Ethnologue lists 33 languages and dialects spoken in local communities. The main language used for communication among Israeli citizens is Modern Hebrew , a language that emerged in the late 19 century, based on different dialects of ancient Hebrew and influenced by Yiddish , Slavic languages , and German . Hebrew and Arabic are currently official languages of Israel .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369219563.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
A sign at the Ministry of the Interior/Ministry of Immigrant Absorption at the Government Village, Haifa . From top to bottom: Hebrew , Arabic , English , and Russian . English and Russian are the most popular unofficial languages in Israel.The multilingual warning (English, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian) on the optical cable manhole cover in Tel Aviv . The Israeli population is a linguistically and culturally diverse community. The 15th edition of Ethnologue lists 33 languages and dialects spoken in local communities. The main language used for communication among Israeli citizens is Modern Hebrew and Arabic , while English , second language of the majority of the Israeli population, is used widely in official logos, road signs and product labels.Modern Hebrew is a language that emerged in the late 19th century, based on different dialects of ancient Hebrew and somewhat influenced by many languages ( English , Jewish languages , Slavic languages , Arabic , Aramaic , German and others).Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of Israel.According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age: 49% report Hebrew as their native language, Arabic 18%, Russian 15%, Yiddish 2%, French 2%, English 2%, 1.6% report Spanish and 10%; other languages (among others Romanian , German and Amharic , which were not offered as answers by this survey).This study also noted that 90% of Jews and over 60% of Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew.Israel Central Bureau of Statistics ."Selected Data from the 2011 Social Survey on Mastery of the Hebrew Language and Usage of Languages (Hebrew Only)" .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669116393.
The opening as it stood in 2020 10 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Israeli population is linguistically and culturally diverse.Hebrew is the country's official language, and almost the entire population speaks it either as native speakers or proficiently as a second language .Its standard form, known as Modern Hebrew , is the main medium of life in Israel.Arabic is used mainly by Israel's Arab minority which comprises about one-fifth of the population.Arabic has a special status under Israeli law.Russian is spoken by about 20% of the Israeli population, mainly by the large immigrant population from the former Soviet Union , and English is a known foreign language by a significant proportion of the Israeli population as English is used widely in official logos and road signs alongside Hebrew and Arabic.In addition, the 19th edition of Ethnologue lists 36 languages and dialects spoken through Israel. According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age, 49% report Hebrew as their native language, Arabic 18%, Russian 15%, Yiddish 2%, French 2%, English 2%, 1.6% Spanish , and 10% other languages (including Romanian , German and Amharic , which were not offered as answers by the survey). This study also noted that 90% of Israeli Jews and over 60% of Israeli Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965280187.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Overview of the languages spoken in Israel The Israeli population is linguistically and culturally diverse. Hebrew is the country's official language, and almost the entire population speaks it either as native speakers or proficiently as a second language . Its standard form, known as Modern Hebrew , is the main medium of life in Israel. Arabic is used mainly by Israel's Arab minority which comprises about one-fifth of the population. Arabic has a special status under Israeli law . Russian is spoken by about 20% of the Israeli population, mainly by the large immigrant population from the former Soviet Union , and English is a known foreign language by a significant proportion of the Israeli population as English is used widely in official logos and road signs alongside Hebrew and Arabic. In addition, the 19th edition of Ethnologue lists 36 languages and dialects spoken through Israel. According to a 2011 Government Social Survey of Israelis over 20 years of age, 49% report Hebrew as their native language, Arabic 18%, Russian 15%, Yiddish 2%, French 2%, English 2%, 1.6% Spanish , and 10% other languages (including Romanian , German and Amharic , which were not offered as answers by the survey). This study also noted that 90% of Israeli Jews and over 60% of Israeli Arabs have a good understanding of Hebrew. The State of Israel . Israel Central Bureau of Statistics .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171918751.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “linguistically and culturally diverse”. Today it says “not offered as answers by the survey)”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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 since October 7, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
linguistically and culturally diverse
Now
not offered as answers by the survey)
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.
