Leading Israeli tech entrepreneurs and investors have withdrawn from next month’s Web Summit, Europe’s largest tech conference, after the event’s founder appeared to accuse Israel of committing “war crimes” in response to the Hamas terror group’s devastating onslaught.
A number of Israeli-founded tech unicorns and startups, including Wiz, Taboola, Lightricks, Bright Data, AI21 Labs, OpenWeb, and startup accelerator Y Combinator, have already announced their withdrawal from the tech conference, which is held in Lisbon, Portugal, every November and attracts around 70,000 industry leaders, venture capitalists, and startup hopefuls.
The controversy began after Paddy Cosgrave, CEO of Web Summit, posted on social media platform X on Friday that he was “shocked at the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders and governments” relating to the Israel Defense Force’s military operation across the Gaza Strip aimed at dismantling its ruler, Hamas.
Six days earlier,…