Web Summit CEO apologises for comments on Israeli conflict
(This Oct. 17 story has been corrected to read 'partner', not 'CEO', in paragraph 9)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Web Summit Chief Executive and founder Paddy Cosgrave on Tuesday apologised for comments he made on the Israel-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 Nov. 13-16, 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 Oct. 7.
"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 Irish Prime Minister 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' Oct. 7 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, partner at 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".
(Reporting by Steven Scheer in Jerusalem and Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Writing by Josephine Mason in London; Editing by Alison Williams, Mark Potter)
