The original incarnation of the IFL consisted of pick-up games without helmets, pads or referees and was founded in 1999 by a group of football enthusiasts, including Ofri Becker, Gadi Gadot, Ben Friedman, Jonathan Yifat, Raviv Faig, Itay Ashkenazi, Yoram Leshem and Ori Shterenbach.

[4] In the summer of 2006, after one season, the Israeli group and Leibowitz agreed to merge their leagues and founded the current incarnation of the IFL.

[4] However, it wasn't until 2007 that the first official season took place with coaches, referees and full equipment under the governing body of American Football in Israel (AFI) and under the guidance of Eric Amkraut, the first Commissioner of the IFL.

[6] The inaugural season of the IFL, with regulation pads and staff, consisted of four teams: the Jerusalem Lions, the Haifa Underdogs, the HaSharon Pioneers, and the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Sabres.

MVP: Jon Rubin, Jerusalem Kings The IFL expanded to eight teams with the expansion Herzliya Hammers joining the league.

The Rebels defeated the Black Swarm in the first round and then upset the Lions in the semifinals by overcoming an 18-point deficit with 7:40 left in the game.

In the playoffs, the 5th-seeded Haifa Underdogs routed the defending champion Judean Rebels in the first round but were defeated by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Sabres in the semifinals.

A miscommunication between QB Itay Ashkenazi and RB Koby Nimrod lead to a Pioneer fumble, which the Sabres recovered to clinch their second Israel Bowl title.

MVP: Chaim Schiff, Jerusalem Lions The IFL expanded to eleven teams with the expansion Rehovot Silverbacks joining the league.

MVP: Dani Eastman, Judean Rebels Betzalel Friedman took over as commissioner of the IFL and the league expanded to play nine-on-nine instead of eight-on-eight.

MVP: David Abell, Jerusalem Lions Only seven teams competed this season, with the Ramat HaSharon Hammers going on hiatus.

The season concluded with the Jerusalem Lions defeating the Petah Tikva Troopers, 28–20, in IsraBowl XI to win their second consecutive championship.

[8] MVP: David Abell, Jerusalem Lions The season began on November 15, 2018 and was the first to feature eleven-man football and regulation-width fields.

[11] MVP: David Fitoussi, Jerusalem Lions The season began on November 28, 2019 and was scheduled to conclude on March 19, 2020 with IsraBowl XIII.

[12][13] MVP: Ronnie Hayes, Beersheva Black Swarm The season began on April 29, 2021 and concluded on July 15, 2021 with Israbowl XIV.