Jaffa Port Fair to Spotlight Northern Businesses, Including Golan Meat Cooperative

About 100 businesses from Israel’s northern front line, the Galilee and the Golan Heights will take part in the “Heart with the North” fair at Jaffa Port, starting Wednesday, June 17, and continuing for three days. The event, organized by Jaffa Port and Channel 12 News, is meant to support evacuated northern residents and business owners hit by the war.

The fair will be held at Warehouse 2 near the Container House in the port, with dozens of food, art, jewelry, cosmetics and other stalls selling products from the north directly to the public. Channel 12 will also broadcast live from a special on-site studio, with presenters Guy Varon and Almog Boker. The initiative grew out of Boker’s “Helping Businesses in the North” segment, which has assisted more than 1,000 businesses during the fighting.

One featured participant is Merav Golan, a cooperative founded in 2016 that runs eight local cattle and sheep farms. The group raises its livestock in the open spaces of the Golan Heights, unlike about 40% of beef products sold in Israel that arrive on ships as live imports. It says its cattle are raised in a rare production method used by only about 4% of beef herds sold to Israeli consumers.

According to the cooperative, the animals live in their natural environment throughout the entire process, and the meat is produced without hormones, growth stimulants or preventive antibiotics. The group says, “We believe the way cattle are raised affects the quality of the meat,” and adds that its method is “the right practice for raising beef cattle.” Jaffa Port manager Kobi Yirdeni said the port sees itself as a public space connecting people and communities and wanted to help strengthen northern businesses and communities. The fair will run Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Thursday from noon to 11:00 p.m., and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.