Rev. Johnnie Moore, executive chairman of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, has spent the past two weeks under “24/7 protection while evil wants to kill me,” he told attendees of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s annual National Jewish Retreat, held last week at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington. 

Moore was referring to some 50 anti-Israel demonstrators who have protested outside of his Northern Virginia home multiple times in recent weeks — making death threats and painting graffiti.  

“Johnnie Moore is a war criminal … We will remain on the streets, outside these criminals’ homes, until the siege on Gaza is lifted, until aid is allowed in, until we see an arms embargo against the zionist entity, and until all of Palestine is liberated, from the river to the sea,” the Palestinian Youth Movement wrote Saturday on social media, following its most recent demonstration outside of the entrance gates of Moore’s Prince William County neighborhood, about 30 miles outside of D.C.  

Graffiti and signs near Moore’s home on Saturday read, “Johnnie Moore Kills Palestinians For $$$,” “Johnnie Moore Kills Babies” and “Your Neighbor is a Genocider Johnnie Moore.” Moore told Jewish Insider he has also received “two credible death threats,” which are currently under investigation, adding that police have “done an extraordinary job taking it seriously” and made one arrest for destruction of property. 

The group has also protested outside the nearby home of John Acree, the interim executive director of the GHF. 

“I never thought that it would be so life-threatening to do something so obviously right,” Moore told supporters of JLI, an educational arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, at a VIP reception Thursday night, referring to his work with GHF. 

“If they’re doing this to try and force us to quit, in fact it’s going to have the exact opposite effect because every attack, every threat, every lie is only more proof that what we’re doing is right and it’s essential,” Moore, a member of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory committee, told JI. “These profane efforts to stop us from saving lives only makes us more determined to save lives,” said Moore, adding that he views the attacks as “domestic terrorism.” 

“I believe some things are simple, like when Hamas opposes you, it means you’re probably doing the right thing, whatever the secretary-general of the United Nations thinks about it,” he continued, a reference to the U.N.’s calls for the dismantling of GHF.  

GHF has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks — including from some pro-Israel American Jews — amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Recent reports have claimed that since GHF took over aid distribution in May, with backing from the United States and Israel, Palestinians have been crushed in crowds and killed by live ammunition while waiting for aid. The IDF has admitted to firing warning shots near the aid sites. 

Last month, Moore called reports of civilian casualties at GHF’s aid sites overblown but acknowledged that “there have been some civilian casualties of people trying to get to our distribution sites  — [which] the IDF has said it is responsible for, but we think that’s a relatively small number of people, [although] one person is too much.” 

Moore also spoke at the reception about the partnership between Jews and Christians, which he said “fundamentally comes down to a simple fact — your book is also our book.”

“Your values are our values. Your heroes are our heroes. I stand here today as a Christian blessed because of Israel. Blessed because of the Jewish people because the Bible we love and cherish as Christians is a Jewish book. Your care for the Hebrew Bible, the diligence, reverence of your scribes throughout the centuries, changed our lives.” 

Moore continued, “I’ve been trying to do everything I possibly can — and I don’t know another evangelical leader that isn’t trying to do the same —  [to] fight antisemitism when it rears its head, making sure that the hostages remain a bipartisan issue in the United States.” 

In introductory remarks, Rabbi Hesh Epstein, chairman of the National Jewish Retreat and director of Chabad of South Carolina, called Moore “an international leader and advisor on religious freedom.” The reception also featured remarks from former Israeli hostage Or Levy, who was held by Hamas in Gaza for 491 days after being kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival where his wife, Einav, was killed.