(Netanya, Israel) — An exclusive new poll reveals Americans not only fear a “Second Holocaust” if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, but also strongly support the White House ordering “decisive” military action to neutralize the Iranian nuclear threat, if diplomacy and sanctions fail.

During an interview on Fox News on Sunday with anchor Shannon Bream, I  shared more of the results of the new polling Tyndale House Publishers and I conducted through McLaughlin & Associates, a nationally-respected polling firm.

Gearing up for the release of The Auschwitz Escape, and trying to understand how Americans’ fears of a “Second Holocaust” affects their views of current geopolitical issues, we asked 1,000 likely U.S. voters the following question: “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: ‘While I do not wish for war, if diplomacy and economic sanctions fail to stop Iran, and we have no other choice, I believe the President of the United States should launch devastating airstrikes to decisively neutralize the Iran nuclear threat, so long as we do not put U.S. ground forces into Iran’?”

Here are the results:

• 59.0% of Americans said they agreed with a U.S. military strike on Iran
• 31.1% disagreed
• 9.9% said they did not know

Here are some of the other results of the poll we discussed:

• Exclusive new poll finds 80% of Americans fear a “Second Holocaust.” Are Christians willing to stand with Israel in face of rising threat?
• 85% of Americans concerned young people don’t know enough about Holocaust or learning lessons of how to confront evil, finds new poll.
• Exclusive new poll: 72% of Americans see Putin as “clear and present danger” to U.S. and Israel.

At this point, it seems unlikely to me that President Obama would order such a preemptive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities unless there were dramatic developments that posed an imminent threat to the U.S. For the last several years, Mr. Obama has been withdrawing U.S. military forces from the Middle East, reducing military spending, and pressuring Israel not to launch a preemptive strike. What’s more, top White House and Pentagon officials fairly routine dismiss the idea of military action, while continuing to state for the record that “all options are on the table.”

That said, what I wanted to test with this poll question was not whether Americans believe the President really will strike Iran if there is no other choice. Rather, I wanted to understand whether the American public would support such a preemptive air attack (with no ground forces) if they believed there was no other choice. It turns out they do. Indeed, the fact that nearly six-in-ten Americans say they would support a U.S. first strike tells me their fears of a “Second Holocaust” are motivating them to support stronger American action against Iran than many in Washington appear to be seriously contemplating.

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