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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. ==Controversies==