Around 4,000 residents of Bani Israel in Senegal’s remote southeast are claiming they are of Jewish descent. They said that their fathers’ forefathers left Egypt in order to avoid persecution, claiming that they left the Horn of Africa and made their way west. They said that they had settled in the village of Bani Israel, where they had lived for thousands of years.

It is conjectured that their forefathers kept the secret of their Jewish heritage from their children so that they would not be compelled to practice Judaism in the midst of the other residents of the villagers, who were Muslim and led a Muslim lifestyle. However, that the knowledge of their Jewish origins has been passed down orally from generation to generation.

During World War II some Jews in Senegal were taken by the colonial administration in one internment camp at Sébikhotane for forced labour. Other Jews from Senegal were also forcibly sent to work at the Office du Niger in Mali.

Furthermore, at that time, the Jewish community in Senegal, many of whom, after fleeing the inquisition, had settled in the West African country in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, was subject to anti-Semitic legislation implemented in 1940 and 1941. Jews maintained a constant presence in the area until 1943.

Israel has been instrumental in assisting Senegal.  In 2009, the Israeli embassy gave sheep to underprivileged Senegalese families so they can celebrate the Muslim religious holiday of Tabaski.

They have also trained Senegalese towards new and modern farming methods, such as drip irrigation. Even the most rural villages, have heard of the drip irrigation and they want it.