Will Israel-Iran war make US safer — or less safe — in long term? What poll says

Few Americans believe the Israel-Iran war will ultimately be good for U.S. and global security, according to new polling.

In the latest YouGov survey, respondents were asked whether “recent attacks by Israel and Iran on each other will make” the U.S., Israel, the Middle East and the world safer or less safe “in the long run.”

On all four counts, pluralities or majorities of respondents said they think the recent conflict will reduce safety, rather than bolster it.

The survey comes after Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran on June 13, which Israeli officials justified by saying Iran’s nuclear program posed an imminent threat.

Iran — which denies pursuing nuclear weapons — responded by carrying out its own missile strikes on Israel.

Following this, President Donald Trump, who said he had advance knowledge of the attack, suggested he may ramp up American involvement by instructing the U.S. military to strike nuclear sites in Iran.

“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump told reporters on June 18, according to The Hill. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

In the poll — which sampled 3,471 U.S. adults on June 17 — just 14% of respondents said the Israel-Iran conflict will make the U.S. more safe in the future, while 37% said it will make the country less safe.

When asked about Israel, responses were similar. Just 19% said the recent attacks will make the Middle Eastern nation safer, while 40% said they will reduce safety.

When it came to the broader region and the world, Americans were even more pessimistic.

A slim majority, 51%, said they believe the conflict will reduce safety in the Middle East, while 15% said it will bolster safety. And, on the global scale, 50% said the fighting will reduce safety, while 15% said it will increase it.

Republicans were significantly more likely than Democrats to believe the Israel-Iran conflict would shore up safety in the long term, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.

For example, 27% of GOP respondents said the war will ultimately make the U.S. safer, while 4% of Democrats and 13% of independents said the same.

And 28% of Republicans said it will make the world safer, compared to 5% of Democrats and 14% of independents.

This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Will Israel-Iran war make US safer — or less safe — in long term? What poll says."