Surely, this audience does not need to be persuaded of the importance of ending Israel's vulnerability to ballistic missile attack .
Imperfect defense is better than no defense .
Offensive counterfire, considered by some to be an acceptable alternative to strategic defense, is not necessarily a reliable means of either deterring an adversary from attacking with ballistic missiles or limiting the effectiveness of such an attack. I am proud to say that I have long been among those who believed that U.S.-Israeli collaboration on strategic defenses was in the mutual interests of both nations. Naturally, I am enormously pleased with the progress that has been made on Arrow. It is gratifying that acceptable cost-sharing arrangements have, according to published reports, been agreed upon for the next phase of collaborative research, as was the case for the first phase. It is imperative that the constructive program management arrangement between U.S. SDI Office and Israel be preserved.