Magyar Péter Takes the Orbán Playbook, Not Even in Office Yet and Already Inviting Netanyahu to Budapest

Translation of an article originally published in Hungarian by Magyar Jelen on April 15, 2026 by Dániel Irányi.

On Wednesday, Péter Magyar, leader of the Tisza Party, which won Hungary's recent parliamentary elections, called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and formally invited him to Budapest. The conversation was reported by Hungary's state news agency MTI, which cited the Israeli Foreign Ministry's website.

It was Netanyahu's first call with Magyar since the Tisza Party's election victory. The Foreign Ministry described it as a "warm" get-acquainted call, during which Magyar stated his intention to maintain Hungary's close ties with Israel and formally invited Netanyahu to attend commemorations in Budapest marking the seventieth anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (the nationwide anti-Soviet uprising crushed by Red Army tanks).

According to the statement, Netanyahu responded warmly, accepted the invitation, and in turn invited Magyar to Jerusalem for a joint ministerial meeting to discuss, in the Foreign Ministry's words, "further strengthening the close ties between Israel and Hungary." The Israeli prime minister also expressed confidence that the strong bond he had built with outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would continue under Magyar's leadership. (Magyar will presumably be expected to visit the Western Wall as well.) The two leaders also agreed that their foreign ministers would meet soon.