Last week, President Barak Obama went from saying that the U.S. does not have a strategy in dealing with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to leading the NATO charge. Obama spoke last Friday at the NATO Summit and said once the Iraqi government elected a Prime Minister, a broader strategy could be worked out with them to deal with the ISIL.

That government was formed when Haider al-Abadi, was elected on Monday, initiating a unity government with Deputy Prime Ministers Saliha al-Mutlak, a Sunni and Hoshyar Zebari, the Kurdish former Foreign Minister.

According to Obama, this was the move the NATO allies were waiting for to develop a broader strategy that would include NATO member nations. “There was unanimity over the last two days that ISIL poses a significant threat to NATO members and there was a recognition that we have to take action…You can’t contain an organization that is running roughshod over that much territory, causing that much havoc, displacing that many people, killing that many innocents, enslaving that many women. The goal has to be to dismantle them.”

During a press conference in Wales, Obama stressed Article 5 of the NATO treaty, that an armed attack against one member nation is an attack against all. “This is a binding treaty obligation…We will defend every ally.” Turkey, which has already experienced atrocities from ISIL, is a member nation of NATO.

There are other countries joined together in different groups associated with NATO: Israel is a member of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue as is Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Members of the Istanbul Cooperative Initiative are Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. NATO’s partners across the globe include Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

These countries are not member nations and so are not covered by Article 5.

However, as one of the actions taken by NATO last week, it stated that it would be fortifying Jordan’s defense capabilities in order to defend itself against ISIL. Jordan is bordered by Iraq and Syria as well as Israel.

Obama said, “I also leave here confident that our NATO allies and partners are prepared to join in a broad international effort to combat the threat posed by ISIL. Already allies have joined us in Iraq where we’ve stopped ISIL’s advances, we’ve equipped our Iraqi partners and helped them go on the offensive. NATO has agreed to play a role in providing security and humanitarian assistance to those who are on the front lines. Key NATO allies stand ready to confront this terrorist threat through military intelligence and law enforcement as well as diplomatic efforts.”

He said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to the region to continue to deal with the regional leaders “to build the broad based coalition to enable us to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.”

Obama said assistance that has already been given to Iraq includes more than 100 strikes against ISIL’s capabilities as well as providing arms to Iraqi security forces, air lift, humanitarian, logistical, intelligence, surveillance and recognizance support.

“I’m confident that we’ll be able to have the kind of coalition for the sustained effort we need to push ISIL back. “

Part of the coalition which Obama said is “absolutely critical” is to have Arab states and specifically Sunni majority states included. Those bordering Israel include Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon.

Obama said these states “are rejecting the kind of extremist nihilism seen from ISIL. They say that is not what Islam is about and are prepared to join us actively in the fight. We’re going to need the Sunni tribes in many of these areas to recognize that their future is not with the kind of fanaticism that ISIL represents.”

This coalition, could work well with Israel according to an interview with Barbara Opall-Rome-Israel bureau chief for Gannett by Vago Muradian of Defense News, a Gannett Company.

She said as long as the theater of operations is limited to Iraq and Syria it presents opportunities for Israel such as forging regional cooperation and marginal arms sales with countries that are facing a similar threat. In fact weeks ago, Kerry was told by Israel’s defense minister Moshe Ya’alon that Israel is willing to offer assistance against ISIL because of the destabilizing effect ISIL has in the entire region.

Opall-Rome said there are opportunities for Israel because these Arab countries are fighting against Israel’s enemies, the regime of Bashir al-Assad, Hezbollah in Syria and chipping away at Hezbollah’s legitimacy inside Lebanon.

By Anne Phyllis Pinzow