Bondi hero Gefen Bitton accepts Key to City honour
Bitton: 'Mostly, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Jewish community in Sydney'.
In a moving presentation on Tuesday night via Zoom, Gefen Bitton – the Israeli man whose intervention during the Bondi Beach Chanukah terror attack on December 14 helped save countless lives – was presented with a Key to the City from Waverley Council by Mayor Will Nemesh.
During the terror attack, Bitton ran toward danger to assist Ahmed Al-Ahmed as he wrestled a firearm from one of the two gunmen. In the process, Bitton was shot three times, underwent multiple surgeries in Sydney, and was placed in an induced coma before continuing his treatment and recovery in Israel.
He is one of three recipients of the honour, alongside Al-Ahmed and Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff, following a unanimous council vote in January.
Joining the Zoom from Tel Aviv, Bitton spoke from the heart, saying, “It’s a huge honour for me to receive this Key to the City, and I really appreciate it. But mostly, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the Jewish community in Sydney.”
He described eventually waking from his coma to learn of the outpouring of support he had received.
“I heard about the people who came to the hospital, the messages, the prayers, the food, the support for my family… Many of them were people I had never even met.”
Bitton also reflected on the community’s response to the tragedy.
“What I saw was people coming closer together, supporting each other, looking after each other, and refusing to let what happened define them.”
Mayor Nemesh praised Bitton’s “extraordinary bravery and selflessness,” adding he hoped to one day meet Bitton in person in Israel.
He then read the inscription on the plaque on Bitton’s Key to the City, including: This key symbolises the enduring impact of his courage, and is a token of our everlasting gratitude and appreciation.
During the ceremony, a video message from Governor-General Sam Mostyn to Bitton was played, in which she said, “You will always be welcome at Waverley, and all across Sydney, for your extraordinary bravery.”
And Mayor Nemesh read a written message from NSW Premier Chris Minns that praised Bitton for showing “the very best of the human spirit” in helping to disarm one of the gunmen. Bitton’s actions, Minns wrote, “remind us that even in one of the darkest chapters in our state’s history, courage and humanity can overcome hate”.