Israeli Ambassador to Portugal Dor Shapira announced on Monday that he has informed Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas that his country will not participate in the Web Summit conference.
At issue are the “outrageous statements made by the conference’s executive director, Paddy Cosgrave”according to the diplomat’s post on social media.
“Even in these difficult times, he is unable to put aside his extremist political views and denounce Hamas’ terrorist activities against innocent people. Dozens of companies have already canceled their participation in this conference, and we encourage others to do so as well. zero tolerance towards acts of terrorism and terror!”He wrote.
Today I wrote to the chairman of the House of Representatives #Lisbon informing him that Israel will not participate in the conference @WebSummit due to outrageous statements made by the conference’s executive director, Paddy Cosgrave.
Even in these difficult times he can be…-Dor Shapira (@ShapiraDor) October 16, 2023
After taking to the social network, he revealed that he was “shocked by the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders and governments, with the exception of the government of Ireland.”
I am shocked by the rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders and governments, with the exception of the Irish government in particular, who are for once doing the right thing. War crimes are war crimes, even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are.
– Paddy Cosgrave (@paddycosgrave) October 13, 2023
Cosgrave’s post was criticized over the weekend, with the hashtag #CancelWebSummit going viral on social media.
Several of Cosgrave’s conference partners, such as Keith Rabois of the Founders Fund and David Stark of GroundUPVC, have announced that they will be stepping down as executive directors of Web Summit.
Israeli investor Hanan Brand, vice president of the Start-up Division and backed by the Israeli government, made a publication on X calling for the cancellation of the Lisbon Web Summit.
The Web Summit will take place from November 13 to 16 in Lisbon.
Source: DN
