“Israel will not be participating in Lisbon’s Web Summit following statements by its co-founder, Paddy Cosgrave, who accused Israelis of committing war crimes in their fight against Hamas, Israel’s Ambassador to Portugal, Dor Shapira, revealed on Monday,” according to Euractiv.
Related: Web Summit CEO apologizes for comments on Israeli conflict | Reuters
Cosgrave had tweeted his thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war on Friday:
“‘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 [on Friday] 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,'” according to Reuters.
Four days after the post, Cosgrave issued an apology in a post published on Web Summit’s website, according to Yahoo Finance.
‘I understand that what I said, the timing of what I said, and the way it has been presented has caused profound hurt to many. To anyone who was hurt by my words, I apologize deeply,” he wrote, according to Yahoo Finance.
Israel isn’t the only one pulling out of the summit in Lisbon, as well as in Qatar:
Related: Tech sector boycotts Web Summit conference over CEO’s controversial comments on Israel | Euronews
“Others also criticized Web Summit’s February conference in Qatar,” Euronews writes.
“‘Will refuse to work with anyone who speaks at this conference in Qatar for the rest of my career,’ Keith Rabois, the Founders Fund partner and entrepreneur, said on X,” according to Euronews.
