The parliamentary elections in Hungary on April 12, 2026, have done more than just end sixteen years of illiberal rule; they have dismantled a political structure that was as unique as it was unsettling within the European Union. As Péter Magyar and his Tisza party celebrate a landslide victory, a palpable sigh of relief echoes across the EU. But for the Jewish world and the State of Israel, the end of the Orbán era also raises a complex set of questions.

In many ways, Viktor Orbán presented himself as a paradox. In the streets of Budapest, Jewish life flourished in a state of physical security that is now tragically rare in other Western European capitals. Yet this safety was wallpapered with state-sponsored campaigns against George Soros that utilized antisemitic tropes straight out of a 1930s playbook. It was a regime that claimed to protect Jewish citizens while simultaneously flirting with historical revisionism that sought to sanitize Hungary’s own role in the Holocaust.

This contradiction was even sharper on the global stage. Israel viewed Orbán as an “iron shield” in the European Union, a leader willing to wield his veto power to block one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions when everyone else fell in line. But while acting as Israel’s ally in the EU, Orbán also served as the primary bridgehead for Vladimir Putin’s interests in Europe. The same leader who promised to stand with Israel was cozying up to........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)