Dichter's comments came during a visit to the house in Sderot hit by a rocket fired from Gaza earlier in the day.
Israel cannot tolerate rockets being rained down on it, he said, stressing that Israel needs to initiate at a time of its choosing a process of devising a "complete deterrence strategy to stop the terror."
A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel struck a house in the Sderot area on Friday morning.
The house sustained some damage and one person was suffering from shock as a result of the attack.
An additional rocket set off the red alert warning system in the area and is believed to have fallen in an open field in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. On Thursday night a rocket landed in the Ashkelon Coast Council area, causing no injuries or damage.
The attack marked the second time that the same Sderot home had been damaged in a rocket attack, according to Israel Radio. Security forces arrived on the scene to remove the remains of the rocket.
The area has seen several rockets fall in the last few days since children returned to school from summer vacation on Monday. The IDF struck munitions depots in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to the rocket fire.
According to the IDF Spokesman's Office, some 450 rockets have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel since the beginning of the year.