‘He died a hero’: Daughter’s tribute to father killed in Bondi attack

Alex Kleytman’s daughter says her father’s final act was to shield his wife of 57 years, Larisa, from the Bondi gunmen.

“He always used to say: ‘Your mum is my whole life. I will die for her’. And he did. He actually did,” his daughter, Sabina Kleitman, told Nine News.

Kleitman says her 87-year-old father was shot in the chest and died instantly. He is the oldest of the 15 people killed in the terror attack last month.

“I don’t think he saw it as a sacrifice. I think he saw it as his duty, as what he’s meant to do for the person he loved.

“My dad was always a bit of a hero to me. He died a hero. And there’s a lot of people who died that day as heroes.”

Kleytman survived the Holocaust and freezing winters in Siberia during World War II, and decades of persecution in the Soviet Union before moving in 1992 with his family of four from Ukraine to Sydney for a safer life.

“Australia was a safe haven and dad felt incredibly proud he took all his family out of danger,” Kleitman said.

“He had an amazing life here. He really celebrated every moment and he loved Australia dearly … and yet he got killed here, in the safest place you could think of.”

The Kleytmans are among 17 families of those injured and killed in the attack to sign an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week asking for a federal royal commission into the terror attack and the spate of antisemitism over the past two years. The demand has been echoed by business leaders, Australian sporting stars, more than 200 judges and barristers, the federal Coalition and crossbenchers.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday said “calls for a royal commission come overwhelmingly from a good place” after attending a meeting of the National Security Committee of Cabinet.

“Our message to the world is that this Albanese government is taking a number of very decisive steps to make sure we learn from what happened, but also that we act on what happened,” he said.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said “the prime minister has missed the moment and missed the mark to lead the country through the aftermath of this awful terrorist event”.

Kleitman said the government’s resistance was “incredibly traumatising on top of what already happened”.

“We cannot move forward. I am not sure how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cannot see that,” she said.

“We need to make sure that Australians, all Australians, have safety and security.”

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