[2] Throughout the years the festival grew in the number of art disciplines and activity centers with recent festivals including classical music, ballet, jazz, theater, visual arts and lectures, combining high quality programs from Israel and abroad.
From 1982 onwards the Israel Festival was adopted by the City of Jerusalem and most shows are held within its boundaries.
Yossi Tal-Gan served as the director of the festival from 1992 till 2014.
While the festival's quality were widely recognized, there had been complaints about the high entrance fees to the performances.
Dan Halperin heads the public board.