Web Summit CEO resigns after apologizing for Israel-Hamas war comments

Paddy Cosgrave, CEO and co-founder of the annual technology conference Web Summit, resigned from his position after coming under fire for his comments about the war between Israel and Hamas, prompting big tech guests like Alphabet, Meta and Amazon to cancel their attendance.

“Unfortunately, my personal comments have become a distraction from the event, our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend,” Cosgrave said in a statement on Saturday.

At the beginning of the week, Cosgrave took to social media to express his personal opposition to Israeli counterattacks in Gaza.

“I repeat: war crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies and must be exposed for what they are,” Cosgrave said in his speech. Monday post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “never give up”.

His remarks sparked a wave of cancellations from high-profile attendees like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and others. This year’s conference is scheduled to take place from November 13 to 16, and is scheduled to be held in Lisbon, Portugal.

The day after he posted on X, Cosgrave issued a statement apology on the Web Summit blog, saying he understood the timing of his comments “caused profound harm.”

“What we need at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that,” Cosgrave said in his apology.