On the Olive-Oil Trail Through the Galilee and Golan

Right now is Israel’s olive harvest season where you can watch oil being pressed and pick your own olives at some of the top olive-oil producing sites around the Holy Land.

“We know how to make high-class olive oil,” Peleg Ovrutzki, owner and farmer at Ein Camonim, tells ISRAEL21c. “We have some very good oils in Israel and we win international awards with them.”

Today, Israel produces about 19,500 tons of olive oil annually. Adi Naali, olive division manager of Israel’s Plants Production and Marketing Board, says Israelis consume about 2.5 kilograms of extra-virgin oil per person yearly. Greece leads the world with more than 23 kg consumption of olive oil per person per year…

During the Olive Branch Festival through November 19, visitors can watch olive pressings, participate in picking and bottling olives, meet with different ethnic communities in the Galilee, enjoy food tastings and free tours, and take guided hikes through olive groves to learn the history of the trees and the area. Reservations for specific workshops and tours must be made in advance.

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