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Paddy Cosgrave, CEO and co-founder of the annual tech conference Internet Summit, has resigned after coming under fire for his comments on the Israel-Hamas war, leading big tech guests like Alphabet, Meta and Amazon to cancel their attendance.
“Unfortunately, my personal comments distracted from the event and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people in attendance,” Cosgrave said in a statement Saturday.
Earlier in the week, Cosgrave took to social media to express his personal opposition to Israel’s counterattacks in Gaza.
“To repeat: war crimes are war crimes and must be called what they are, even if committed by allies,” Cosgrave said in a statement. Monday’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I will not repent.”
His comments sparked an uproar from high-profile participants like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and others. This year’s conference will be held from November 13 to November 16 in Lisbon, Portugal.
The day after he posted on X, Cosgrave posted a Forgiveness On the Web Summit blog, he said he understood the timing of his comments “caused deep hurt.”
“What is needed at this time is compassion, which I did not convey,” Cosgrave said in apology.
