Web Summit chief executive and founder Paddy Cosgrave has apologised for comments he made on the Israeli-Hamas conflict that prompted some technology companies and investors to withdraw plans to attend its conference in Portugal next month.
Web Summit, one of the world's largest tech conferences, will take place in Lisbon from November 13th-16th, with attendees from companies such as Meta and Microsoft to investors such as Atomico.
Cosgrave drew criticism for a post on social media platform X on Friday relating to Israel's deadly air strikes on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Palestinian militant group Hamas' mass killings in Israel on October 7th.
"I’m shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments, with the exception in particular of Ireland’s government, who for once are doing the right thing," Cosgrave wrote in the post, apparently referring to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's response that Israel was engaging in collective punishment.
"War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are," wrote Cosgrave, who was born in Ireland.
Cosgrove, who on Sunday condemned Hamas' October 7th assault, said in a statement on Tuesday: "I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused upset to many. To anyone who was hurt by my words I apologise deeply."
"What is needed at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that."
Among executives to have cancelled their participation at Web Summit are AI21 Labs' Ori Goshen; Tome's Keith Peiris; Sequoia Capital partner Ravi Gupta; Yinon Costica, co-founder of Israeli cybersecurity unicorn Wiz; and Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, according to LinkedIn and X posts.
Philippe Botteri, chief executive of tech investor Accel, said in a LinkedIn post on Monday he would no longer speak at Web Summit.
In a statement on Monday posted on X, Israel's ambassador to Portugal Dor Shapira said he had written to Lisbon's mayor informing him that Israel would not participate in the conference after Cosgrave's "outrageous statements".
