Militaryטוביה פיינמן

Tuvia Fineman

Tuvia Fineman was an IDF colonel and a senior officer of the intelligence Unit 8200, where he founded and led the unit that listened to the Soviets.

1935 to 2002Founding the Masrega unitSenior officer in Unit 8200Operation Rimon 20 intelligence support

Born: 20 July 1935, Chișinău
Died: 22 January 2002
Occupation: military personnel
Rank: aluf mishne
Wars: Suez Crisis, Six-Day War, War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War

Tuvia Fineman was born in 1935 in Chișinău

Fineman was born in Chișinău, in Bessarabia, the only child of Sheva and Yitzhak Fineman. His first name was Theodor, after Theodor Herzl. During World War II the family fled east to Kyrgyzstan, where his father died of tuberculosis.

He and his mother reached Romania in 1944 and sailed via Marseille on the ship Transilvania, arriving in Haifa in January 1948. He joined the youth group at Kvutzat Schiller near Rehovot, became a kibbutz member and worked in farming.

He joined the IDF in 1955 and returned to the army in 1960 after a period running the kibbutz orchards. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Hebrew University in 1972 and later studied for a master's degree in industrial engineering at the Technion. He retired in 1981 as a colonel after 26 years of service.

In civilian life he advised defense firms such as Elta, Tadiran and Elisra on electronic warfare, and held business roles at Elisra and Elta. From 1988 to 1989 he served in Moscow for the Nativ liaison bureau. He married Bruria Kopilis and later started a family with Niva Yaron, and he had 5 children. He died of cancer in 2002 and was buried in Yavne.

Tuvia Fineman's life in 9 milestones

1948
Arrived at Haifa port with his mother.
1955
Enlisted in the IDF in the Nahal.
1967
Chosen to found and lead the Soviet listening unit Masrega.
1970
His unit supported Operation Rimon 20 in real time.
1973
Appointed head of the ELINT branch in Unit 8200.
1976
Became the first chief of staff of Unit 8200 and a colonel.
1981
Retired from the IDF.
1988
Went to Moscow as an envoy of Nativ.
2002
Died and was buried in Yavne.

Tuvia Fineman served in Unit 8200

He served from 1955 in the paratrooper Nahal Battalion 88, fighting at Mitla in the Sinai campaign, and later in Military Intelligence, where he led the Masrega unit within Unit 8200 and became its first chief of staff. He retired as a colonel in 1981.

Unit 8200