Bondi heroes given Keys to the City as council delays decision on footbridge

Bondi heroes Ahmed Al-Ahmed, Gefen Bitton and Rabbi Leibel Lazaroff have been bestowed Keys to the City for their heroism during the Bondi terror attack.

Waverley Council voted unanimously to bestow the prestigious honours to the trio during a meeting on Thursday night – the first convened by the council in the wake of the shooting which claimed the lives of 15 innocent people.

Mr Bitton, an Israeli national, ran towards danger during the terrifying ordeal and stood alongside Mr Al-Ahmed, who bravely disarmed Sajid Akram, 50, during the horror shooting in December.

Mr Bitton was shot face on for his heroic effort to confront one of the attackers and remains in hospital, recovering from gunshot wounds.

He was recently granted permanent residency in Australia for his efforts.

Rabbi Lazaroff helped tourniquet the shoulder of injured Constable Scott Dyson before he was shot in the stomach.

Councillors voted to grant the Key to the City honours to all three members, along with a lifetime Waverley Beach Pass.

The same motion also allocated $100,000 to community organisations to provide direct support to the Jewish community including distributing $78,000 of this grant to Jewish Education Matters and the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club.

Decisions on bridges ‘way too soon’

The extraordinary meeting considered the future of the footbridge where the terror attack took place amid plans for how the council will memorialise the loss of the victims.

The mayoral minute outlined that Waverley council did not need to “make a determination on the two heritage-listed pedestrian bridges”.

During the meeting, Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh said, “there are a variety of views in the community about what should happen to the bridge and while council understands the sense of urgency among some in the community, this is not a decision we should rush”.

The replacement of the northern pedestrian bridge may form part of a future discussion of a permanent memorial, council said in their meeting.

The council requested officers to, “prepare report to council, to determine the cost, timetable, and approvals process for replacement and all restoration of both heritage listed pedestrian bridges”.

The resolution ultimately held a future assessment will be undertaken on the determination of the future of the bridges.

The council also acknowledged the “many ideas” on how to dedicate a memorial site for the victims and the importance of adequate consultation, but that this process “will take time”.

One councillor supported solidarity with the view, saying “it is way too soon for anyone to be making definitive statements about anything.”

“I can assure the residents of Waverly that every councillor here will be listening to the victims and their families, but to everyone in our community,” she said.

“Nothing is going to be happening anytime soon, except an appropriate temporary set of recognitions, because we must never let anyone forget,” she added.

Another councillor also supported the motion not to make any definitive moves.

“This is not about rushing decisions or fixing outcomes today, it’s about doing this properly, respectfully and together,” the councillor said in the meeting.

“ I support the process that honours lives lost, protects the integrity of this place and allows Bondi to remember with meaning”.

Earlier in the meeting, a large list of speakers, from locals to Jewish community members and leaders, recounted the impact of the Bondi attack to Waverley councillors and their mayor, Will Nemesh.

Thursday’s meeting marks the first convened by the council since the terror attack.

A survivor and a spokesman of the Australian Israel Jewish Affairs Council opened the meeting in a powerful anecdote of his experience of the horrific Bondi Beach terrorist attack.

“By all accounts, the doctors said that my survival was a miracle, millimetres between life and death as a bullet grazed my head at the beach where I grew up,” he said.

He says the terrorist attack will be a day “seared” into the collective’s memories.

Suggestions as to how the tragic event will be memorialised have varied, from including producing a mural for Matilda – the youngest victim – and a bee to planting a memorial garden for quiet reflection.

Others have suggested the controversial bridge not be destroyed, but preserved and covered in colourful mosaic from contributors from the local community.

“What took place in Bondi on the 14th of December has resulted in unimaginable loss for many in our community. But do we now need to lose more of Bondi’s heritage,” a speaker at the forum said.

A Bondi local also plead for the bridge not to be taken away.

“Those bridges are part of our heritage. They’re our touchstone, they’re part of our community, what makes Bondi familiar to us,” she said.

“Please don’t punish us for what other people did. It wasn’t the bridges’s fault,” she added.

A Rabbi from the Rabbinical Council said the memorial site “needs” to be a public display of Jewish pride and light.

“We couldn’t think of a more fitting one, and a more fitting symbol than a menorah in the park,” he said.

“If it’s not a menorah, it’s another very public Jewish symbol representing the people that lost their lives.”

Sandy Hollis from the Sydney Jewish Museum said the museums position on whether the footbridge remains in its present form or not, “is not as material as how the victims of the terror attack are memorialised and how the space is used to educate against hatred and discrimination”.

The Bondi Beach footbridge was used by the two gunmen, Naveed and Sajid Akram, during the antisemitic terrorist attack on December 14, which lead to 15 innocent lives be killed.

It is understood an engineering report said the bridge would need replacing “within several years”.

However, the bridge over the parking area is heritage listed as it reflects an integral part of the 1920s improvement scheme.

NSW Premier, Chris Minns has announced he would “just hate” for the footbridge to be a “ghoulish reminder” or worse, be “exploited by reprehensible people in the future” at the iconic Bondi Beach spot.

“We can’t allow one of the most beautiful places on earth to be remembered forever only as a place of horrible terrorism, because it’s so much more than that,” Minns said.

“Australians have been able to reclaim Bondi Beach as a place of hope and light in what was an absolutely horrible crime, and they’ve been able to do it in a short space of time,” he said.

An interim Chanukah has been placed near the site of the attack, providing a temporary space for the community to mourn, reflect and pray.

Council reflected on the current memorial saying, it was “a beautiful, contemporary interpretation of a menorah”.

A plaque will also soon be added which reads, “This temporary memorial honours the 15 souls murdered in the attack on our community on the first night of Hanukkah, in the 14th of December 2025. In their memory, we choose light over darkness”.

The piece was designed by artist Joel Adler and its candles are lit by solar power each day at dusk.