Bondi hero Gefen Bitton given permanent residency in Australia for bravery during terror attack

A bystander who risked his own safety to confront a gunman during the deadly terror attack at Bondi Beach has been given permanent residency in Australia.

Gefen Bitton, 30, ran to help Ahmed al Ahmed as he disarmed Sajid Akram, 50, during the chaos on December 14.

Bitton, an Israeli national, has undergone several surgeries for internal injuries after being shot during his brave act, and remains in hospital.

“Gefen is a hero. Without a moment’s thought for his own safety, he ran to help Ahmed al Ahmed,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.

“I met with him at St Vincent’s Hospital (on Tuesday) and while I was there, I made him a permanent resident of Australia.

“Of all the things he is now dealing with, at least this gives him one less challenge to worry about.

“I told him Australia is a better place with him here and he is welcome to continue to come here for the rest of his life.”

Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, are accused of carrying out the antisemitic attack, which took place during a Jewish Hannukah celebration.

Friends of Bitton, a garage door technician, said he put others before himself by putting himself in harm’s way.

“As Ahmed al Ahmed heroically jumped on the terrorist, Gefen ran in alongside to confront the terrorist,” friend Cayli Barr said.

“There, he was shot, fell to the ground, and shot again.

“He ran into the face of danger like only a hero does, guided by the values on which he was educated and raised.”

It comes as a former police officer gunned down in the massacre was farewelled on Wednesday.

Peter “Marzo” Meagher, 61, was working as a freelance photographer at the Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi when he was shot.

Hundreds of mourners including senior political figures packed Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral for his funeral, where family and friends remembered the many facets of his life.

“Peter always put up his hand for work, never played scared. He was never afraid to step in and arrest a criminal,” former NSW assistant commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said.

In a powerful eulogy, brother David Meagher took aim at critics of gun reform in the wake of the terrorist attack and called for even tighter restrictions.

He also questioned why some have dismissed suggestions of a gun problem and said Australia was only battling an antisemitism scourge.

“Why can’t it be two things at once?” he said.

“Just as we must ask why the killers did what they did, surely, we must also ask how they were able to.”

Officers formed a police guard to farewell Meagher at the end of the funeral.

Accused mass killer Akram faces 59 charges over the shootings including 15 counts of murder.

He was shot by police at the scene and spent days in a coma before being charged and later transferred to Goulburn supermax prison on Monday.

His father Sajid was shot dead by police.

Al Ahmed meanwhile has travelled to the US for treatment on his bullet wounds.

“A special thanks to the FBI for their warm welcome, outstanding protection, and genuine care,” he said on social media.

- With AAP