Ahmed Al‑Ahmed has been presented with a large gold Menorah by billionaire Bill Ackman at a lavish $1,000-a-head dinner in New York.
Ackman, who donated $99,999 to the Bondi hero’s GoFundMe, praised the Syrian refugee at the Colel Chabad Gala on Wednesday night.
Al‑Ahmed, who was shot five times on December 14, received a three‑minute standing ovation as he took the stage with his injured arm in a sling.
Ackman was visibly moved as he addressed the crowd and presented Al-Ahmed with the gold menorah, which was inscribed with the words ‘Light Will Win’.
‘[Jews] are 0.2 per cent of the world. So seeing someone step forward on behalf of people he didn’t know, to risk his own life, and the calculus of going after a guy with a gun,’ Ackman told the crowd.
‘It’s really one of the great acts of heroism, and I think it was very reaffirming to the Jewish community to have someone stand up on behalf of our community in the most profound, life‑affirming way. That’s why we were here.’
Ackman explained the meaning behind the extravagant gift.
‘The menorah represented endurance, represented courage, represented persistence and, most of all, represented life and light in the darkness. And this man deserved this,’ the hedge fund manager said.
Bill Ackman (centre) handed over a golden Menorah to Bondi hero Ahmed Al-Ahmed (right)
Billionaire Bill Ackman (centre) donated $99,999 to Al‑Ahmed’s GoFundMe after the attack
Al‑Ahmed said the decision to confront the Bondi attacker remained impossible to fully explain.
‘I think it was holy, and the miracle that’s from God,’ he said.
Ackman recalled first seeing the rampage in social media videos that ‘just seemed to go on and on’ – until a clip showed a man stepping forward as everyone else fled.
‘He could have minded his own business. No one would ever know that he chose not to intervene,’ the billionaire said.
He told the audience that Al‑Ahmed’s courage placed him in a rare class of heroism.
‘So I think that in the hierarchy of heroes, a person that was willing to risk his own life for the benefit of people that he did not know, where he took on someone who was armed with a weapon and he had none, was an amazing thing,’ he said, choking up.
‘Seeing someone step forward on behalf of people he didn’t know, risk his own life, and take on a guy with a gun, was really one of the great acts of heroism.
‘It was very reaffirming to the Jewish community to have someone stand up on behalf of our community in the most life‑risking way. That’s why we’re here.’