Residents of southern Israel are right to protest. They demand quiet, and I agree with their harsh criticism against Israel’s leadership. Their willingness to stay in their shelters in order to allow for a temporary attack that will bring their normal life back testifies to how fed up they are.

Israel must give a decisive blow to the infrastructure of terror in the Gaza Strip: demand that Hamas dismantle its weapons and stop its rule on the ground. To crush the terror completely, and prevent it from rearing its head. This way, at the very least, we will obtain relative quiet in the coming years, and allow the children in the south to go to sleep without fear.

Unfortunately, the current round of rockets has once again proven to us what we have learned throughout history: a jihadist terrorist organization understands only force. They are not interested in reaching an agreement or reconciliation with us. It doesn’t matter if we lift the siege, open the border, enable infrastructure, push for international aid or inject millions of dollars in cash. Thus, we have no choice but to respond with such force that will paralyze Hamas’ ability to harm us.

I do not call for war, and certainly not for harming the innocent Gazan population. But as long as we’re in the midst of an ongoing battle, we must respond with all severity and maintain the upper hand; as it is written, “he who comes to kill you, get up early to kill him first.”

The weakness of our leadership reveals the extent to which its view has been distorted by continuously trying to convince the world that Israel is moral and righteous. The world, however, is not impressed. On the contrary, the international media continues to paint a false picture of the reality in Israel. One only needs to glance at the European press, for example, to notice headlines that portray Israel as the aggressor, after a day with almost 500 rockets fired at Israeli civilians. Therefore, what the world thinks cannot be taken into consideration by our leaders.

There is no doubt that the next round will be more painful. We took a serious step backwards, against ourselves and against the safety of our children. Hamas, on the other hand, is celebrating their success in sparking a political earthquake in Israel, after the resignation of the defense minister. They — and the entire world — have concluded that Israel is weak.

However, I relate our weakness to a single factor: the lack of spiritual foundation in the people of Israel. Unlike any other people or nation in the world, we are required to fight on two fronts: the physical and the spiritual. We have to protect the safety of our residents and defend our borders with great fervor; and at the very same time, we must attack our division at all costs. This is the real war for Israel.

We all take part on the spiritual front, and right now we have been caught off guard. We must reach a cease-fire between us. This is the fire that invites our enemies to enter our house and do as they wish.

All of us without exception — leaders and soldiers, politicians and citizens, rightists and leftists, religious and secular — must be vigilant against the enemy within us, the snake that separates us from each other. Only when we join forces against our own division will we reawaken the spiritual foundation of our people.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the spiritual connection between us is our only salvation. It will build a wall against enemies. And the whole world is subconsciously waiting for the power that lies in Israel’s unity. Even Hamas.