In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of a jewish ring of spies helping the british fight the ottoman empire during wwi”. Today it says “jewish espionage network which assisted the united kingdom in its fight against the ottoman empire in the mutas”.
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 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of a jewish ring of spies helping the british fight the ottoman empire during wwi”. Today it says “jewish espionage network which assisted the united kingdom in its fight against the ottoman empire in the mutas”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Nili was the name of a Jewish ring of spies helping the British fight the Ottoman Empire during WWI . The name "Nili" (or נילי) is an acronym based on a phrase in the Hebrew Bible which, translated literally, says, "The Eternity of Israel does not lie" (or נצח ישראל לא ישקר). Sarah Aaronsohn , her brother Aaron , and their friend Avshalom Feinberg formed and directed Nili. According to Chaim Herzog, the Aaronsohns were motivated to assist the British after witnessing genocidal acts against the Armenians by the Turks. Sarah oversaw operations in Zichron Yaakov. She passed their information to British agents who entered Zichron Yaakov by boat, or sometimes brought it personally to the British in Egypt. In the fall of 1917 , the Turks discovered Nili's operations and began rolling up their spy network. In September of that year they surrounded Zichron Yaakov and captured Sarah, whom they interrogated for three or four days using torture. At the end of that time Sarah killed herself to avoid further torture, and Nili's operations ceased. v t e1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16056221.
The opening as it stood in 2010 9 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Nili ( , an acronym of a phrase נצח ישראל לא ישקר (I Samuel 15:29; transliteration: Netzakh Yisrael Lo Yishaker , translation: "The Eternity(G-D) of Israel will not lie") was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine during World War I .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 363239019.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Nili ( , an acronym of a phrase נצח ישראל לא ישקר (I Samuel 15:29; transliteration: Netzakh Yisrael Lo Yishaker , translation: "The Eternity (GOD) of Israel will not lie") was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine during World War I .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 636677964.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Avshalom Feinberg and Sara Aharonson of the Nili spy ring, 1916 NILI was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine between 1915 and 1917, during World War I .NILI is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaker", which translates as "the Eternal One of Israel will not lie".The British government code-named NILI the "A Organization", according to a 1920 misfiled memorandum in the British National Archives , as described in the book Spies in Palestine by James Srodes .The choice of siding with the British against the ruling power, the Ottomans, was eventually proven right by history, but in taking it the members of Nili went against the majority view of their fellow Jews from the Yishuv , who feared fierce persecution.These fears almost materialised when the spy ring was discovered, and the Jews of Palestine escaped the tragic fate of the Armenians only due to the intervention of the Vatican , the German government and General Erich von Falkenhayn , commander of the Ottoman-German troops in Palestine.The Times of Israel .Falkenhayn: Politisches Denken und Handeln im Kaiserreich .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 950018968.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Jewish underground movement in Ottoman Palestine For other uses, see Nili (disambiguation) . Avshalom Feinberg and Sarah Aaronsohn of the Nili spy ring, 1916 NILI ( ) was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine between 1915 and 1917, during World War I . NILI was centered in Zichron Ya'acov , with branches in Hadera and other Moshava .Nili is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase from the First Book of Samuel : "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaker" ( 1 Samuel 15:29 ), which translates as "the Eternal One of Israel will not lie". The British government code-named NILI the "A Organization", according to a 1920 misfiled memorandum in the British National Archives , as described in the book Spies in Palestine by James Srodes . During the Armenian genocide , the group opposed the Yishuv leadership at the time, and tried to intervene on behalf of the Armenians.In choosing to side with the British Empire, the members of Nili went against the majority view of their fellow Jews from the Yishuv , who feared fierce persecution. These fears almost materialised when the spy ring was discovered, and the Jews of Palestine escaped the tragic fate of the Armenians only due to the intervention of the Vatican , the German government and General Erich von Falkenhayn , commander of the Ottoman-German troops in Palestine. "Hadera: transnational migrations from Eastern Europe to Ottoman Palestine and the glocal origins of the Zionist-Arab conflict" . The Times of Israel . Falkenhayn: Politisches Denken und Handeln im Kaiserreich .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1170477071.
The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jewish underground movement in Ottoman Palestine For other uses, see Nili (disambiguation) . Military unit NILI ( Hebrew : נִילי ) was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem between 1915 and 1917, during World War I .NILI was centered in Zikhron Ya'akov , with branches in Hadera and other Moshava . Nili is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase: "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaker" ( 1 Samuel 15:29 ), which translates as "the Eternal One of Israel will not lie" . The British government code-named NILI the "A Organization" , according to a 1920 misfiled memorandum in the British National Archives , as described in the book Spies in Palestine by James Srodes . In choosing to side with the British Empire, the members of Nili went against the majority view of their fellow Jews from the Yishuv . Thus, during the Armenian genocide , the group opposed the Yishuv leadership at the time, and tried to intervene on behalf of the Armenians. "Hadera: transnational migrations from Eastern Europe to Ottoman Palestine and the glocal origins of the Zionist-Arab conflict" . The Times of Israel .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1295561980. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name of a jewish ring of spies helping the british fight the ottoman empire during wwi”. Today it says “jewish espionage network which assisted the united kingdom in its fight against the ottoman empire in the mutas”. Read the current article and compare.
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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 2005 and 2025.
Then
name of a jewish ring of spies helping the british fight the ottoman empire during wwi
Now
jewish espionage network which assisted the united kingdom in its fight against the ottoman empire in the mutas
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.
