"No one will bring the State of Israel to its knees!" former Shabak (Israel Security Agency) chief and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter tweeted during Operation Breaking Dawn.
Dichter, now a Knesset member for the Likud party, continued, "We must deter the homeowners (Hamas) as well, and not just the rebellious child (Islamic Jihad). I support the IDF and the Shabak and I applaud the families who are on the rocket lines. May it be a good and quiet week."
Speaking to 103 FM Radio, Dichter said, "The operation was one of the most effective operations that I remember. [Islamic] Jihad tried to make a connection between Gaza and Judea and Samaria. It's not the largest organization in Gaza, but it still tried to copy Hamas, and they planned a terror attack using antitank missiles, according to published reports."
About the road closures prior to the operation itself, Dichter explained, "There are quite a few places where the line of sight and distance from Gaza can cause serious hits."
He also praised "the restraint showed by the IDF and Shabak."
According to Dichter, "There is no doubt that the fact that [Islamic] Jihad lost two of its most senior commanders on the ground - this is an outstanding operational matter."
"When we look at the deterrence we have created with [Islamic] Jihad, the story of Hamas is the opposite," he warned, explaining that in previous rounds, Hamas - the terror group which rules Gaza - was hit regardless of which terror group had fired the rockets.
"In my opinion, it seems that the deterrence with Hamas, which was built with great effort during Operation Guardian of the Walls - the hit that it sustained there is still reverberating in its head," and the fact that Israel did not hit Hamas this time "sets a dangerous precedent."
"The obligation is always to have a process to respond to the rebellious shooter and the homeowner," he emphasized. "From this round, Hamas came out stronger than from all the other rounds."