Israel Loses Key European Ally As Viktor Orbán Defeated in Hungary

The defeat of Hungary’s far-right prime minister in Sunday’s election has deprived Israel of its staunchest European ally, raising hopes that levying EU sanctions against the apartheid regime may now become easier.

After 16 years in power, Viktor Orbán lost to centre-right opposition leader Péter Magyar, whose Tisza party secured a supermajority in parliament, winning 138 out of 199 seats. Magyar has been described as a pro-European conservative liberal.  

Orbán’s government has repeatedly blocked EU measures aimed at reining in Israel’s abuses. Last year it prevented the bloc from imposing sanctions on seven Israeli settlers and organisations that support the expansion of illegal settlements.

Just hours after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2024, Orbán publicly declared he would defy the order and “guarantee” the ruling would “have no effect in Hungary”.

He also made Hungary one of only two EU states to join Donald Trump’s so-called Board of Peace, the widely maligned body formed to oversee US-Israeli control of Gaza in the wake of Israel’s genocide there.

Hungary is far from the only country in the EU to have supported Israel since October 2023. Czechia has previously joined Hungary in blocking sanctions, and in 2024 its then-prime minister Petr Fiala described the ICC arrest warrant as “appalling and unacceptable”.

Czechia and Austria were the only two EU countries to vote against a December 2023 UN General Assembly resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, while Hungary abstained.  

Israeli news website Ynet said ahead of Sunday’s vote that an Orbán defeat could mean the end of Netanyahu’s “EU firewall”.

“Until now, the EU has often refrained from issuing collective condemnations of Israel due to Hungary’s veto,” the outlet reported. “If Magyar wins, that dynamic is expected to end.”

The Times of Israel published an alternative analysis following Orbán’s defeat, arguing that while EU support may now ebb, Magyar “is unlikely to significantly curtail ties” with Israel.

“While Orban’s support has been politically significant, Hungary’s practical impact on EU policy has been more limited than often assumed,” the report said, “and the change in Hungarian leadership is unlikely to radically shift bilateral relations.”