Bamahane (also BaMahane, Hebrew: במחנה, lit. in the base camp) was a Hebrew-language weekly magazine published by the Israel Defense Forces. It was first published in December 1934 by the Haganah and was published as a weekly until December 2016, when it was moved online until it was formally merged into the IDF's website in January 2020.
Bamahane started in December 1934 as an underground publication by the Tel Aviv office of the Haganah. Its chief editor, until 1947, was Ephraim Talmi. Notable writers, such as Nathan Alterman and Leah Goldberg, wrote for it. At the end of 1947 it became the Haganah's national publication. During that time period, Moshe Shamir became its chief editor. With the founding of the IDF, Bamahane became the soldiers' newspaper.
Between 2000 and 2005, Bamahane consisted of 2 parts: one including news articles related to military and security matters, and the other containing editorials, interviews, photo-ops, etc. From January 2006 until December 2016, it was one publication in the form of a 68-page magazine.
While Bamahane was subordinate to the IDF's Education and Youth Corps, it is unusually independent, and until 2006, was not censored by the IDF Spokesman. As such, its content was the center of several controversies, to the extent that in May 2001, the head of the Education Corps, Brigadier General Elazar Stern, decided to close the publication, an order which did not come to pass.
Bamahane's circulation was in the tens of thousands, mainly read by soldiers who receive the magazine in their bases on Thursdays. Additionally, many Israeli civilians close to the IDF choose to subscribe to the publication.
Bamahane's final chief editor (from 2013–2016) was Tzachi Biran. Additionally, Bamahane employed about 20 writers. the editor before Tzachi was Yoni Shanfeld.
In May 2001, the commander of the Education Corps at the time, Elazar Stern, ordered the closure of Bamahane, due to 'questionable material', including a front-page article about a homosexual colonel.[1] Due to public outrage and an appeal to Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Bamahane continued to exist.
En septiembre de 2005, tres de los escritores de Bamahane fueron despedidos por no seguir una prohibición de la Unidad del Portavoz de las FDI de documentar y publicar historias y fotografías del traslado de tumbas judías de Gush Katif al propio Israel. [2] Como resultado de este y otros incidentes, en enero de 2006, el jefe de la Dirección de Mano de Obra , ahora mayor general Elazar Stern , ordenó que cada pieza del cargador fuera sometida a una cuidadosa inspección por parte de la unidad del portavoz. El personal de Bamahane lo acusó de intentar convertir la publicación en otro Pravda . [3]