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Mitt Romney may soon announce a trip to Israel to highlight his policy on the Middle East and attempt to draw contrast with Barack Obama. Romney has criticized Obama’s handling of Israel in the past and has called for a more muscular foreign policy in regards to dealing with Iran. The Jewish news question seems to be, will Jewish voters abandon Obama?

In the last election it is estimated that 78% of Jews voted for Obama, the only constituency more loyal was African-Americans. Still recent events have put the Middle East in the headlines and many people, Jewish and non-Jewish, have expressed frustration with regional issues. Although the GOP has some big Jewish backers like Sheldon Adelson, it is unclear if the Jewish constituency can be brought to the GOP side.

Since American Jews have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats since the 1970s, it’s hard to imagine this election, which hinges more on economic then foreign policy issues, being the one where the GOP wins over Jewish voters. Keep in mind however that today’s elections are decided on the state level by thousands of votes. Even peeling a few percentage points off of Obama’s support among Jewish voters could mean victory in Florida and other swing states. Post-election Jewish news will give us more perspective on the issue.

Changes to Israel’s longstanding draft rules have become the source of heated parliamentary and public debate. Israel’s high court recently struck down the draft law as unfair but the legislature is yet to put in place a new one. This is an important piece of Jewish news because the draft in Israel is, for most citizens, mandatory.

The main point of contention is the exemption of ultra-religious men from serving in the military. Those who rose to power with the help of a religious constituency want to keep the exemption of the ultra-religious in place while others want to greatly curtail such exemptions. Those in favor of drafting ultra-orthodox Jews want to limit the number of exemptions to 1,000. Scientists, artist, athletes and others deemed ‘exceptional’ in their field are given exemptions but that number is set at 1,000. Those in favor of such a law claim it would add equality to the system. Although the main issue in regards to the draft is religious exemption, some progressives has also called for laws to diversify the armed services.

This Jewish news issue does not seem likely to be resolved before the end of this parliamentary session but that has not stopped the heated debate.

In a disturbing piece of Jewish news a Jewish philanthropist and communications expert, Alan Phillip Gross, has been imprisoned in Cuba since 2009. His family, and the Jewish community, is in the midst of a publicity campaign to free him which has now attracted politicians and celebrities. The loss of his Cuban Supreme Court appeal has recently added urgency to his case.

Alan Phillip Gross was arrested for bringing communication equipment, some of which was illegal but most of which was legal, into Cuba for use by a Jewish organization. Some items smuggled included iPads, iPhones, and VoIP phones. The Jewish community in Cuba, which numbers about 2,000 mainly in the Havana area, enjoys great freedom and Cuban Jews are free to immigrate to Israel at any time. They have good relations with the Raul Castro regime, which is why Gross’ detention in such a shock.

The Cuban government alleges that Gross was contracted by American intelligence services as an aid to dissidents but leaked Cuban government documents show his arrest coming at a time of heightened US-Cuban tensions. Though Gross has worked for the USAID (which aids dissident groups living in oppressive regimes), the groups he worked with in Cuba are Jewish cultural groups, though they did want to use the equipment to circumvent Cuban web censorship. Many suspect that as the case receives publicity in the Jewish news the Cuban government will leverage Gross’ freedom in return for concessions.

To aid Gross visit the Free Alan P. Gross Facebook page.

In Jewish news today, Mohamed Shoeb, head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, announced that his company was terminating their deal with Israel. Both Israel and Egypt are stressing that this move is strictly business with no political undertones.

Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly played down the importance of the deal saying that it was a mere business dispute. The Egyptian Ambassador echoed his sentiments. Netanyahu went on to stress that Israel has enough reserves to keep it energy independent for some time.

The situation seemed a bit murkier in Egypt with some officials saying the deal was canceled and other saying it was remaining intact. Politicians have run on ending the deal because many in Egypt feel the subsidized rate that Israel pays is not a good deal for Egypt.

Jewish news of the deal being abolished comes at something of a chaotic time in Egypt. The first presidential election is approaching but there is no constitution.  It is unclear who will be writing the nation’s constitution.

Much of Egypt’s aid from the US is contingent on its staying faithful to all agreements with Israel. For now no nation is claiming the termination of this deal is a violation of that faith though others suspect there may be more at play here than just business.

An Israeli soldier hit a Danish protestor in the face with his rifle today, setting off a stir in the world Jewish news. The solider has been suspended pending an investigation.

This comes at a very bad time for Israel in that it draws a lot of attention to the protests (which are for Palestinian statehood) and fits the Palestinian narrative that the IDF is a cruel, occupying force. Politicians were quick to condemn the incident and it seems that the Danish government accepts the narrative that this was one rouge solider. The damage to the international reputation of the IDF however could suffer for longer. Video of the footage was posted online and quickly went viral.

This comes as Palestine is increasing its pressure on Israel to grant it statehood. Some citizens have taken to boycotting goods made in settlements and the American government has been privately pressing Israel to stop building settlements in disputed lands. Protests around the world are becoming more vocal and incidents like this only add fuel to the fire. Even some Israelis feel that the occupation is too costly, hurtful to the national reputation, and unsustainable to continue. This Jewish news story is getting so much attention because it ties back to the bigger, longer saga of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Haaretz is running an interesting Jewish news story this week, which has already generated debate about the role of psychiatric medication in the religious community. Use of such medication is on the rise and while many people are pleased with the alleviation of the stigma associated with seeking psychiatric help, others are alarmed at the ways in which medications are prescribed.

Many religious community member report medications being prescribed at the request of Rabbis for, what the psychological community deems, non-medical reasons. These include curbing homosexuality, curbing sexual urges and prescribing stimulants to students. Professionals also argue that psychiatrists are torn between an allegiance to the patient and to the Rabbi, who they may rely on for business. This conflict of interest can lead to a breech in the privacy of psychiatrist and patient or pressure from Rabbis to prescribe specific medications. One of the more disturbing claims include a patient whose Rabbi sat in during his psychological evaluation. The patient claims the Rabbi told his wife’s family he was undergoing treatment, prompting them to remove her from his home and demand a divorce.

Hopefully greater knowledge of this Jewish news issue will lead to better medical practices as ancient traditions meet with cutting edge medicine.

3 Families moving into an apartment building in Arab section of Hebron last week have received eviction notices from the IDF, making Jewish news headlines worldwide. The families and several prominent right wing politicians claim the IDF has no right to issue such an order. The IDF has said the order is to ensure the sale of the building was legal and to protect the peace in Hebron. It is unclear whether the seller knew he was selling the land to Jewish settlers.

Settlers have been evicted in the past for illegal occupation of Palestinian land. It is unclear whether this particular purchase will stand up under legal scrutiny and political lines are already being drawn.

The eviction battle is part of the greater question of settlement on what many people view as Palestinian land. The settlement issue has become front and center in Jewish news. While right wing, religious settlers believe Gaza, the West Bank and other contested areas are in fact Israel most on the left see their occupation as a liability and an impediment to the peace process.  Right wing politicians have spoken in favor of the settlers though details of the sale are being reviewed and a lot of information has yet to be made public. At ministerial meeting on the subject has been scheduled for Tuesday.

In a move that the company should have seen coming, the Jewish community in Turkey is protesting an ad that is using video archives of a speech by Adolf Hitler to sell shampoo. This seems like a ridiculous thing to do and the Jewish news outlets have been in an uproar since it was first aired.

The Chief Rabbi’s office said that Hitler was ”the most striking example of cruelty and savagery” and said using his image in a commercial was unacceptable.

The ad, depicting Hitler has been denounced by the anti-defamation league across the world, not only the Jewish news media. They say that this is a deplorable marketing strategy and are urging people to boycott the advertising company and the shampoo they were trying to sell. They have been also trying to get the company to pull the ad off the air but to no avail. Biota Laboratories, which makes Biomen the shampoo in the ad, said they will not get rid of the commercial because the idea is “humorous.”

Even when threatened with lawsuits and other legal action to remove the commercial, Biota Laboratories is unrelenting. There has been no word on how exactly the lawsuit plans to proceed or what tactics they will use.

A sad development in Jewish news today as 3 people were killed and 1 person severely injured in a terrorist attack in France. A gunman rode by a Jewish school on a scooter and opened fire with a handgun killing a Rabbi and his two kids.  Another student has been hospitalized with serious injuries. The gun has been linked to a terrorist attack last week in which a shooter used the same weapon on French paratroopers.

So far no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks though the French government is classifying it as a terrorist act. This is one of the worst terrorist attacks in recent French history. Jewish leaders and French government officials blamed growing intolerance in Europe and increasing tension in the Middle East, though details remain murky.

The agenda of those responsible is yet to be determined. The victims at the school were Jewish but the paratroopers were Muslim and Arabic or African in descent. Jewish news agencies are eagerly anticipating any new information. Speculation ranges from anti-immigrant Nationalists to Muslim extremists.

The French government has responded by ordering increased security at all schools and houses of worship. French authorities are conducting a national search for the gunman, who remains at large.

90 Rockets fell on Israel over the weekend severely injuring a Thai worker and an elderly woman. Israel retaliated with air strikes that killed 15 people, 10 of whom were confirmed militants. This Jewish news of hostility comes after several months of regional calm.

The 90 rockets fired into Israel were retaliation for a drone strike that killed a Palestinian militant Friday. It came on the head of increasing regional tension, however. Many Palestinian feel that the peace process has stalled and that all regional eyes are focused on Iran. With no one left to broker negotiations, many Palestinians feel their cry is not being heard. Many in the region blame Iran for supplying the militants with the rockets. Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for the attacks in Jewish news outlets and on its website.

Many people suspect that a cease fire will be called in the next few days with the stipulation both parties return to the negotiation table. Hopefully meaningful negotiations will spring from this needless bloodshed but it is too early to tell. Some critics say the regional peace is impossible with Iran fanning the flames of violence and providing weapons to militants and support to the oppressive Syrian regime. Many Palestinians fear this is simply a way to stall negotiations.