Palin: Foreign aid should not be considered 'Holy Grail'

The U.S. might need to "pull back" its foreign aid for some countries, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said Thursday evening.

Palin, prompted by a question about whether it was appropriate for the U.S. to supply aid to the government of Egypt, suggested it was time to consider cuts to foreign aid across the board.

"Even foreign aid and the level of dollars that are sent to these foreign countries, that shouldn't be some sort of Holy Grail where we can't even discuss the level of financial assistance given to countries," she said on the Fox Business Network. "We need to discuss it, and we need to pull back in those countries where the money isn't doing any good."

Palin is the second prominent Republican to call for cuts to foreign aid in recent months. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called for wide-ranging cuts in foreign aid, including aid to Israel — a controversial demand even within his own cut-friendly party.

It was not clear whether Palin would back similar cuts to Israel, but she prefaced her call for cuts by noting she "say[s] this as a Republican, as a true American who wants to make sure that there's peace in the world and that America's interests are heard and adhered to."

Some lawmakers have called for cutting aid to Egypt as a way of forcing transition in government in that country. Palin didn't directly express an opinion on whether it would be good to cut aid to the Egyptian government in order to force an outcome in protests there.

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