The common Israeli saying , " Haifa work , Jerusalem pray , and Tel Aviv play " attest to Haifa 's reputation as a city of workers and industry . The industrial region of Haifa is in the eastern part of the city , around the Kishon River . It is home to the Haifa oil refinery , one of the two oil refineries in Israel ( the other refinery being located in Ashdod ) . The Haifa refinery process 9 million tons ( 66 million barrels ) of crude oil a year . Its nowadays unused twin 80 @-@ meter high cooling towers , built in the 1930s , was the tallest buildings built in the British Mandate period .