North African Sephardim North African Sephardim North African Sephardim are a distinct sub-group of Sephardi Jews, who descend from exiled Iberian Jewish families of the late 15th century and North African Maghrebi Jewish communities. Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and the Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries, most North African Sephardim have since relocated to either France or Israel. Several Iberian Jewish families also emigrated back to the Iberian Peninsula to form the core of the Jewish community of Gilbraltar. There are many Jewish communities in the North of Africa, including the communities of the Maghreb, Egypt,
North African elephant and down to the present Sudanese and Eritrean coasts. Carthaginian frescoes and coins minted by whoever controlled North Africa at various times show very small elephants, perhaps at the shoulder, with the large ears and concave back typical of modern African elephants. The North African elephant was smaller than the modern African bush elephant ("L. a. africana"), probably similar in size to the modern African forest elephant ("L. cyclotis"). It is also possible that it was more docile and plainer than the African bush elephant, which is generally untamable, allowing the Punics to tame it as a war elephant by