Born on 20 April 1963 in Ra'anana, Israel.
In 1984, he began his studies in Graphic Design at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. At the same time he worked as an illustrator for the Israeli press.
In 1988, he received a grant from the Winkler Foundation to continue his studies at the ?cole Nationale Sup?rieure des Arts D?coratifs in Paris, where he specialized in etching and woodcut. While in Paris, he also illustrated for French newspapers such as L'Express, Le Figaro and Le Monde, along with the book publisher Gallimard.
After two years in Paris, he received a grant from the British Council to pursue his studies at the Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in London. At the same time he began publishing illustrations on a regular basis in The Times of London.
His graduation project at Saint Martin's caught the eye of Allan Manham, founder and director of the Artworks illustrators' agency. Thus began a long collaboration and string of commissions from major clients in England, the United States, Holland and Japan through Heflin Reps, the ArtBox and Art Liaison.
Since that time Izhar has contributed illustrations to newspapers and magazines worldwide, including: The Sunday Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Prospects, Metropolitan Home, World Media, Gourmet, Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine.
In addition, he has been often invited to enhance conceptual projects such as annual reports, brochures and presentations by various design groups. In this capacity, Izhar has worked with some of the world's leading design firms, including Pentagram and Newell and Sorrell.
In 1992, Izhar had his first retrospective exhibition at De Beyerd Museum in Berda, Holland, invited by its director, Frank Tiesing. A few years later, he won a competition to design a ceramic mural for the municipal swimming pool in Breda, which was completed in 2000.
In 1993, he began to illustrate the weekly column of Yair Lapid, a friend and former colleague at Bamahane, a collaboration that lasted for almost 20 years, beginning in Ma’ariv’s weekend supplement Sof Shavua and continuing in Yediot Aharonot’s Seven Days.
During the late 1990's, Izhar began to illustrate children's books, such as ABC Discovery (David Bennett Books, Dial), Treasure Hunt (Mathew Price), The Book of Cricket (Running Press), The Flood Tales (Pavilion) and The Wolf's Story (Walker Books).
In 2001 he was awarded the Victoria and Albert Museum Illustration Award and in 2002 he won a competition to design ten stamps for the British Royal Mail for the centenary of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.
At the same time, for several years, Izhar taught and lectured in the Department of Visual Communication at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.
His first retrospective in Israel took place in 2003, in his hometown, Ra’anana, where he was invited by Orna Fichman, director of the Municipal Art Gallery there.
In 2006 Izhar was invited by Lihi Lapid to illustrate her children’s book The Magic Whisper (Kinneret), which soon became a best seller. In 2011 he collaborated with Lihi again on Fat Grandpa, Thin Grandpa (Kinneret).
Between 2007 and 2009 he produced a series of lino-cuts on the general topic of literature based on his weekly column in The Guardian.
In 2009 Izhar began a long term relationship with the Tel Aviv Municipality – a collaboration through which he produced two illustrated calendars (2009/10 and 2010/11) as well as two 'street exhibitions' of his illustrations, the first illustrating poems by Israeli poets in 2010, the second in 2014 based on songs by Arik Einstein.
In 2012 Izhar embarked on illustrating the weekly column of Shlomo Artzi in Yediot Aharonot’s Seven Days.
In 2016 Solo exhibition at the Gutman museum in Tel Aviv.
In 2018 Solo exhibition in Paris at the Biblioth?que Germaine Tillion