how to say “to infiltrate” in Hebrew

 

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לְהִסְתַּנֵּן

 

 

 

 

In the Israeli news recently there has been a lot of talk about refugees and others from Africa illegally crossing the Egyptian border into Israel seeking asylum and work. The word used in the Hebrew media to describe these people is מִסְתַּנְּנִים – literally, infiltrators (mees-tah-neh-NEEM), but with a less militaristic connotation than that of the English.


The Hebrew root ס.נ.נ (s.n.n) goes back to Mishnaic times, and it means filter. A מסתנן is someone who has filtered himself through the border. 


מתסנן is a gerund form of a reflexive-intensive התפעל verb.

Take a look at the English word, and you’ll find the word filter as well: 
infiltrate.

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