Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday that it would be a mistake to react "from the gut" to the rocket fire on the Negev.

Speaking as he watched a maneuver by the Golani Regiment's Barak Battalion in the Golan Heights, Barak said: "We are here in the Golan Heights surrounded by this pastoral atmosphere and preparing for a possibility of warfare, but the heart is in the south, with the residents of Sderot and the Gaza Perimeter.

"The gut says to respond immediately and with full force," he added, "and yet, I tell you, we need presence of mind and yet more presence of mind, in order to choose the timing and the right way to stop the Kassam fire, to stop the smuggling and to stop the terror operations from Gaza."