The family of a prominent New York City restaurant owner allegedly assaulted in the middle of the street by the son of a former Israeli official is berating a judge for releasing him on $25,000 bail.
“I don’t know why this man who attacked me was released without any responsibility,” 42-year-old Maor Vanunu told DailyMail.com. “I think that’s a joke.”
Vanunu, owner of restaurants Hummus Kitchen and Zizi, was randomly attacked in February when officials said 24-year-old Jounathan Maimon hit him repeatedly on the head with a 5-gallon jug.
Vanunu suffered a brain haemorrhage and lacerations to the back of his head, and says he still suffers from memory and hearing loss seven months later.
Maimon, whose father was previously secretary of the Israeli cabinet, has since been charged with attempted murder, but was released shortly after paying bail. He was then allowed to travel back to his homeland to visit his mother.
Maimon is due to appear in court on Friday.
Jounathan Maimon, 24, is photographed Feb. 26 outside the Gospel nightclub in New York City that police say assaulted a prominent restaurant owner
Video of the scene shows a man identified by police as Maimon coming after Maor Vanunu and hitting him on the head with the jug
Vanunu suffered a brain haemorrhage and lacerations to the back of his head, and says he still suffers from memory and hearing loss seven months later
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com on Tuesday, Vanunu claimed that the New York City judge overseeing the criminal case “helped (the defendant) a lot.”
He noted that Maimon’s father, Israel Maimon, Israel’s former cabinet secretary and former head of Israel Bonds, is “well connected” and Maimon was able to hire “really high-quality lawyers.”
Maimon now claims he was drugged and has no recollection of what he did, although no drugs were found in his body when he turned himself in to police, according to the Israeli outlet. YNet News.
A woman who saw Maimon standing outside the Gospel nightclub in SoHo shortly before the attack also reportedly told Vanunu that Maimon seemed quite determined.
Maimon’s father is Israel Maimon, the former cabinet secretary of Israel and the former head of Israel Bonds
The two sides are due back in court this week, but Vanunu said when he got a call from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office about the hearing two weeks ago, “it felt like he was getting ready for a deal.”
He suggested that awake District Attorney Alvin Bragg “wants to close the case as soon as possible; he doesn’t care about the case anymore.’
Maimon’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, has previously said he is working to have the charges against the consulate officer relegated to aggravated assault. New York Post: ‘There was never an attempt to kill anyone here.’
He also denied to DailyMail.com that Maimon is receiving preferential treatment because of his family, arguing that the victim’s family is making the claims because “they want money.”
“It’s ridiculous to suggest that his family is involved,” said Lichtman. “It’s insulting to the family and it’s insulting to the defense.”
DailyMail.com has also contacted the district attorney for comment.
Vanunu and his family have claimed that Maimon has been given preferential treatment due to his family’s connections
Maimon’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, has previously said he is working to have the charges against the consulate officer relegated to aggravated assault
Maimon has claimed he was drugged and couldn’t remember anything he allegedly did
Video obtained by DailyMail.com showed the brutal attack on the restaurant owner.
It shows Vanunu standing at the intersection of Lafayette and Jersey streets on Feb. 26 when a man identified by police as Maimon came up from behind and hit him on the head with the glass jug.
Vanunu immediately fell to the ground when Maimon reportedly kept beating him. He was hit twice more on the head and four more times between the shoulder as Vanunu lay in the intersection, before fleeing the scene.
The victim says he was randomly targeted in the attack, which happened after Maimon was kicked out of the Gospel nightclub after an argument with a woman.
In revenge, Vanunu said, Maimon returned with a glass bottle.
When the restaurant owner and his friends walked out of the club between 3:15 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. as Maimon was “trying to get back to the woman,” he claimed.
Passing by, Vanunu said he saw Maimon turn towards him, but he continued to the intersection where the suspect hit him.
“Literally I fell down from the first hit,” he said, noting that he was hit twice more on the head and four more times between the shoulder “after I fell.”
Police have previously said that Maimon only stopped when the glass bottle shattered after the seventh blow.
Vanunu also noted that there were eight other people in the area and said, ‘He could have attacked all those people.
“If this isn’t attempted murder, I don’t know what attempted murder is.”
He is also accused of using the same jug to smash the window of a passing Uber just before the orgy of violence began.
Maimon faces between five and 25 years behind bars if convicted of attempted murder.
Israel Maimon is pictured with actor Jason Alexander in 2017. He asked Israel’s former Consul General in New York, Asaf Zamir, to write a character witness for his son in a civil case
He is also being sued by Vanunu in a civil case in which Israel’s former Consul General in New York, Asaf Zamir, wrote a character witness for Maimon, reports Y-Net News.
Zamir did not serve as Maimon’s supervisor and acted in violation of State Department guidelines that state that an Israeli representative may not interfere in the legal process of a foreign country.
But Zamir and Maimon’s father have a close working relationship, and according to Y-Net News, he responded to Israel’s request to submit the letter to the court.
When Vanunu heard the letter, he told the outlet, “If a serving consul supports a person who tried to kill, it is an embarrassment to the State of Israel and an embarrassment to all of us.”
Maimon has been granted leave from his position at the consulate “until the legal situation is clarified.”
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attroney’s Office said: “We treat all acts of violence with incredible seriousness and continue to conduct a rigorous and thorough investigation into this matter.”