In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “elite israel defense forces naval special forces unit”. Today it says “naval commando unit of the israeli navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the israel defense force”.
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 “elite israel defense forces naval special forces unit”. Today it says “naval commando unit of the israeli navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the israel defense force”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2020 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 2020
Shayetet 13 ( , lit.1Flotilla 13 ) is a unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret (reconnaissance) units of the Israel Defense Forces .2 Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism , sabotage , maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue , and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions. The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions. The unit is one of the most secretive in the Israeli military. The details of many missions and identities of active operatives are kept highly classified . The unit is respected as among the best of the world's special forces , and is compared to the US Navy SEALs and Britain's Special Boat Service . Unlike many other Israeli Special Forces Units which take men only for their 36-month mandatory service , volunteers for Shayetet 13 must agree to service at least four and a half years (18 months over and above the normal commitment).3Unit's Motto: "As the bat emerges from the darkness, As the blade cuts through with silence, As the grenade smashs in rage." In addition the unit also referred to as "people of Silence".4
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 962993973.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Flotilla 13) is an elite Israel Defense Forces naval special forces unit. The unit (S'13) is considered one of the three main Israeli Special Forces units (along with Sayeret Matkal - the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit - and Shaldag Unit - the Air Force commando unit). S'13 is the unit that specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering and maritime hostage rescue. Only a handful of Shayetet 13 missions have been publicized or otherwise missions publicly attributed to the unit. The unit is respected as among the best of the world’s special forces and is often compared to the US Navy Seals and Britain's Special Boat Service .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371141596.
The opening as it stood in 2015 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Flotilla 13 ) is the naval special forces unit of the Israeli Navy , one of the primary special operations units of the Israel Defense Forces .S'13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism , sabotage , maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue , and boarding.The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions.The unit is one of the most secretive in the Israeli military.The details of many missions and identities of active operatives are kept highly classified . The unit is respected as among the best of the world’s special forces , and is often compared to the US Navy SEALs and Britain's Special Boat Service . Unlike many other Israeli Special Forces Units which take men only for their 36-month mandatory service , volunteers for Shayetet 13 must agree to service at least four and a half years (18 months over and above the normal commitment).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 644106948.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Special operations unit of the Israeli Navy Military unit Shayetet 13 ( , lit. Flotilla 13 ) is a unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret (reconnaissance) units of the Israel Defense Forces . Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism , sabotage , maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue , and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions. The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions. The unit is one of the most secretive in the Israeli military. The details of many missions and identities of active operatives are kept highly classified . The unit is respected as among the best of the world's special forces , and is compared to the US Navy SEALs and Britain's Special Boat Service . Unlike many other Israeli Special Forces Units which take men only for their 36-month mandatory service , volunteers for Shayetet 13 must agree to service at least four and a half years. Unit's Motto: "As the bat emerges from the darkness, As the blade cuts through with silence, As the grenade smashes in rage." In addition the unit is also referred to as "people of silence"."Shayetet 13" . idf.il . 27 December 2021.Illustrated Directory of Special Forces .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1163021120.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Special operations unit of the Israeli Navy Military unit Shayetet 13 ( Hebrew : שייטת 13 , lit. ' Flotilla 13 ' ) is a naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces . Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism , sabotage , maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue , and boarding. The unit is trained for sea, air and land actions. The unit has taken part in almost all of Israel's major wars, as well as other actions. The unit is one of the most secretive in the Israeli military. The details of many missions and identities of active operatives are kept highly classified . The unit is respected as among the best of the world's special forces , and is compared to the US Navy SEALs and Britain's Special Boat Service . Unlike many other Israeli Special Forces Units which take men only for their 36-month mandatory service , volunteers for Shayetet 13 must agree to serve at least four and a half years. "1,000 לוחמים בים, מהצוללות ועד שייטת 13: הסטי"לים יירטו 30 כטב"מים מאיראן | תיעוד" . "Shayetet 13" . idf.il . 27 December 2021. Illustrated Directory of Special Forces .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297467480. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “elite israel defense forces naval special forces unit”. Today it says “naval commando unit of the israeli navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the israel defense force”. 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 2010 and 2025.
Then
elite israel defense forces naval special forces unit
Now
naval commando unit of the israeli navy and one of the primary reconnaissance units of the israel defense force
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.
