With Orban’s defeat in Hungary, Israel loses European shield
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cultivated a strong relationship with outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who even withdrew from the International Criminal Court because it issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli leader.
With the resounding defeat of Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary’s election Sunday, Israel is set to lose its most reliably supportive voice within the European Union, reshaping one of its key European political alliances.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can no longer count on Budapest to provide automatic backing in EU forums or to serve as his most dependable European ally.
During Orban’s 16 years in power, Hungary emerged as Israel’s most consistent defender in European institutions, frequently softening or blocking critical EU statements and opposing measures targeting Israeli settlements or changes to the EU-Israel Association Agreement. It also refused to enforce the International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against Netanyahu in November 2024.
That alignment is now expected to shift following Orban’s defeat to center-right opposition leader Peter Magyar, whose Tisza Party secured a two-thirds parliamentary majority. The newly elected Magyar said Monday that Hungary would review European Union votes on Israel on a case-by-case basis, moving away from the near-automatic pro-Israel stance that defined Orban’s tenure. He also said his government would rejoin the International Criminal Court, reversing a decision by the Hungarian parliament last April to begin withdrawing from the court, a move that was publicly endorsed by Orban during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Budapest in June.
