Rasmussen: 70 Percent of Voters Say Middle East 'Major Crisis'

A full 7 in 10 likely U.S. voters say there's a "major crisis" in the Middle East, and a majority blame President Joe Biden's policies, Rasmussen Reports found.

The latest Rasmussen survey revealed that 71% of likely voters say the current situation in the Middle East — the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists, and drone attacks on U.S. troops and retaliatory strikes in the region — is a major crisis.

A total of 21% say the Middle East situation is a minor crisis, and 5% say it's not a crisis at all.

Majorities of every political category — 75% of Republicans, 65% of Democrats, and 73% of unaffiliated voters — consider the current situation in the Middle East to be a major crisis, Rasmussen found.

Also, majorities of every racial category — 73% of whites, 68% of black voters and 66% of other minorities — say the current situation in the Middle East is a major crisis.

Voters also were asked if they agreed with former national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien, who recently said: "Just three short years ago we had peace in the Middle East … and now everything in the world is aflame. It's because President Biden moved away from a peace through strength posture that President Trump had, into an appeasement posture."

Among respondents, 56% said they agree with that quote, including 40% who said they strongly agree.

A total of 38% said they disagree with O'Brien's statement, including 30% who strongly disagree.

Republicans (82%) and unaffiliated voters (59%) were more likely than Democrats (31%) to at least somewhat agree with O'Brien's quote blaming Biden for moving "into an appeasement posture."

A majority (53%) of voters 65 and older strongly say they agree with O'Brien's quote.

The percentage of respondents who say Biden has been good or excellent in the handling of national security issues went down 7 points (from 42% to 35%) since October.

Nearly half (49%) the respondents say Biden has been poor in dealing with national security.

It's little surprise that 62% of Democrats say Biden has been good or excellent in handling national security, However, only 14% of Republicans and 27% of unaffiliated voters say the same.

In addition, 72% of Republicans, 57% of unaffiliated voters, and 16% of Democrats give Biden a poor rating on national security.

The Rasmussen Reports survey was conducted Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 among 901 likely voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.