CEO of a prominent tech conference resigns amid backlash for public statements over Israel-Hamas war

Paddy Cosgrave, the chief executive officer of a prominent European tech conference called Web Summit, resigned from his role on Saturday amid backlash for his public statements that suggested Israel was committing war crimes. A spokesperson for Web Summit, which organizes one of the world’s largest tech conferences every year, said in an e-mailed statement sent to The Associated Press that it will appoint a new CEO, and the conference will go ahead next month in Lisbon as planned. Cosgrave is the founder of Web Summit. In a statement released Saturday, he said that his personal comments “have become a distraction from the event, and our team, our sponsors, our startups and the people who attend.”