Wikipedia's first sentence called it “egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in israel”. Today it says “egyptian intelligence officer regarded as one of the most prominent agents of the egyptian general intelligence”.
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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 2015
Refaat Ali Suleiman Al-Gammal ( ) (July 1, 1927 – January 30, 1982), better known as Raafat Al-Haggan ( ) in Egypt and as Jack Beton in Israel , was an Egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in Israel.1 Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID), claims that he moved to Israel as an Egyptian Intelligence asset in 1956. He was well known in the Israeli society and was involved in commercial projects. According to the Egyptians, he provided the Egyptian intelligence service with important information while operating a tourism company as a front. Al-Gammal's intelligence concerned, among other things, the Six-Day War , and he had an important role in the Yom Kippur War by providing Egypt with detailed engineering data about the Bar Lev Line .2 Al-Gammal is considered a national hero in Egypt. Most information about him is still confidential. Some sources claim that the information published by the Egyptian Intelligence is pure fiction and that the Shin Bet knew about Al-Gammal from the early beginning and converted him into a double agent to work for them, and that he provided false information to the Egyptians which led to the destruction of the Egyptian Air Force in the Six-Day War .3 Yossi Melman (May 28, 2004). אלמנת מרגל מצרי שפעל גם בישראל טוענת: בעלי הוא זה שחשף את אלי כהן .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 661203767.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Refaat Ali Suleiman Al-Gammal ( ) (July 1, 1927 – January 30, 1982), better known as Raafat Al-Haggan ( ) in Egypt and as Jack Beton in Israel , was an Egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in Israel. Most information about him is still confidential. According to the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID), he moved to Israel as an Egyptian Intelligence asset in 1956. He was well-known in the Israeli society and was involved in commercial projects. According to the Egyptians, he provided the Egyptian intelligence service with important information while operating a tourism company as a front. Al-Gammal's intelligence concerned, among other things, the Six-Day War and he had an important role in the Yom Kippur War by providing Egypt with detailed engineering data about the Bar Lev Line . Al-Gammal is considered a national hero in Egypt.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370990242.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Refaat Ali Suleiman Al-Gammal ( ) (July 1, 1927 – January 30, 1982), better known as Raafat Al-Haggan ( ) in Egypt and as Jack Bitton in Israel, was an Egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in Israel. Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID), claims that he moved to Israel as an Egyptian Intelligence asset in 1956. He was well known in the Israeli society and was involved in commercial projects. According to the Egyptians, he provided the Egyptian intelligence service with important information while operating a tourism company as a front. Al-Gammal's intelligence concerned, among other things, the Six-Day War , and he had an important role in the Yom Kippur War by providing Egypt with detailed engineering data about the Bar Lev Line . Al-Gammal is considered a national hero in Egypt. Most information about him is still confidential. Yossi Melman (May 28, 2004). אלמנת מרגל מצרי שפעל גם בישראל טוענת: בעלי הוא זה שחשף את אלי כהן [Widow of an Egyptian spy who worked in Israel also claims: My husband is the one who exposed the Eli Cohen].Samir Mahmoud Qudiah (January 6, 2005). الصراع الحقيقي بين المخابرات المصرية والاسرائيلية [Real conflict between the Egyptian and Israeli intelligence] (in Arabic).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960402859.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Egyptian spy (1927–1982) Refaat Ali Suleiman Al-Gammal ( Arabic : رفعت علي سليمان الجمال ) (July 1, 1927 – January 30, 1982), better known as Raafat Al-Haggan ( Arabic : رأفت الهجّان ) in Egypt and as Jack Bitton in Israel, was an Egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in Israel. The Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID) claims that he moved to Israel as an Egyptian intelligence asset in 1956. He was well known in the Israeli society and was involved in commercial projects. According to the Egyptians, he provided the Egyptian intelligence service with important information while operating a tourism company as a front. Al-Gammal's intelligence involved, among other things, the Six-Day War . He also played an important role in the Yom Kippur War by providing Egypt with detailed engineering data about the Bar Lev Line . Al-Gammal is considered a national hero in Egypt. Most information about him is still confidential. Yossi Melman (May 28, 2004). אלמנת מרגל מצרי שפעל גם בישראל טוענת: בעלי הוא זה שחשף את אלי כהן [Widow of an Egyptian spy who worked in Israel also claims: My husband is the one who exposed the Eli Cohen]. Samir Mahmoud Qudiah (January 6, 2005). الصراع الحقيقي بين المخابرات المصرية والاسرائيلية [Real conflict between the Egyptian and Israeli intelligence] (in Arabic).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1274791269. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in israel”. Today it says “egyptian intelligence officer regarded as one of the most prominent agents of the egyptian general intelligence”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
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 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
egyptian spy who spent 17 years performing clandestine operations in israel
Now
egyptian intelligence officer regarded as one of the most prominent agents of the egyptian general intelligence
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.
