The article featuring soldier in high-heeled boots
The article featuring soldier in high-heeled boots (Haaretz)

An Israeli army weekly is under fire after featuring soldier in high-heeled boots and wearing gas masks.

The special issue for the Jewish holiday of Purim of Bamahane, which is one of the divisions of the IDF or Israeli Defence Force's Education and Youth Corps, included an article about soldiers dressing up as women and performing as drag queens when off duty.

The paper is well-known for having written liberally about homosexuals and lesbians in the army.

But a picture of an officer wearing a gas mask and red boots with heels angered the IDF. The article interviewed two soldiers in disguise, who said the phenomenon could be found in many IDF units.

From now on, the weekly will be forced to send its articles to the chief education officer for proofreading before publication.

Maj. Yoni Schoenfeld, the editor of Bamahane, refused to comment on the new order to submit material to Shermeister before publication. The IDF Spokesman told Haaretz newspaper, "As the commander of the Bamahane newspaper, the chief education and youth officer is responsible for overseeing the content published in it."

In 2001, the commander of the Education Corps of the time, Elazar Stern, ordered to close down the weekly due to "questionable material", including a front-page about a homosexual colonel.