In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “acronym of מ תנדבי ח וץ ל ארץ ”. Today it says “acronym of mitnadvei hutz laaretz”.
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 October 6, 2023
Foreign volunteers who fought for Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Not to be confused with מחל , the identically pronounced election symbol of Likud , a major political party in Israel .. French Mahal volunteers in the Negev during Operation Horev Mahal , more often spelled Machal ( ), refers to the group of overseas volunteers who fought alongside Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Some 4,000 volunteers, mostly Jews but also non-Jews, arrived from all over the world. Mahal is an acronym of מ תנדבי ח וץ ל ארץ ( M itnadvei H utz L aAretz , "volunteers from abroad"). Mahal was disbanded after the war and most of the volunteers went home, although some remained in the country as permanent residents. Not home alone: Foreigners came to Israel's rescue in 1948 , Haaretz June 15, 2012
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1154201335.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Machal ( , an acronym for Mitnadvei Hutz LaAretz ( ), lit. Volunteers from outside the Land [of Israel] ) is a term used to describe both Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers who went to Israel to fight in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War including Aliyah Bet . About 4,000 volunteers from all over the world came to fight on the Israeli side.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 364395300.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Mahal ( , sometimes transliterated "machal") were both Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers who went to Israel to fight in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War including Aliyah Bet . About 4,000 volunteers from all over the world came to fight on the Israeli side. Mahal made up a small fraction of the Israeli forces, except for the Air Force, where they were dominant.Mahal was disbanded after the war, and most volunteers left Israel.The Hebrew term מח"ל is an acronym of ( Mitnadvei Hutz LaAretz ), which means Volunteers from outside the Land [of Israel] .The volunteers were referred to as Machalniks (or Mahalniks ).Not home alone: Foreigners came to Israel's rescue in 1948 , Haaretz June 15, 2012
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 662452687.
The opening as it stood in 2020 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
French Mahal volunteers in the Negev during Operation Horev Mahal , more often spelled Machal ( ), refers to the group of overseas volunteers who fought alongside Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War .Some 4,000 volunteers, mostly Jews but also non-Jews, arrived from all over the world.Mahal is an acronym of ( M itnadvei H utz L aAretz , "volunteers from abroad").Mahal was disbanded after the war and most of the volunteers went home, although some remained in the country as permanent residents. Not home alone: Foreigners came to Israel's rescue in 1948 , Haaretz June 15, 2012
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960320934.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Foreign volunteers who fought for Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Not to be confused with מחל , the identically pronounced election symbol of Likud , a major political party in Israel .. French Mahal volunteers in the Negev during Operation Horev Mahal , more often spelled Machal ( Hebrew : מח"ל ), refers to the group of overseas volunteers who fought alongside Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Some 4,000 volunteers, mostly Jews but also non-Jews, arrived from all over the world. Mahal is an acronym of מ תנדבי ח וץ ל ארץ ( M itnadvei H utz L aAretz , "volunteers from abroad"). Mahal was disbanded after the war and most of the volunteers went home, although some remained in the country as permanent residents. Not home alone: Foreigners came to Israel's rescue in 1948 , Haaretz June 15, 2012
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1294452905. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “acronym of מ תנדבי ח וץ ל ארץ ”. Today it says “acronym of mitnadvei hutz laaretz”. 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
acronym of מ תנדבי ח וץ ל ארץ
Now
acronym of mitnadvei hutz laaretz
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.
