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High-profile venture capitalists, including Y Combinator’s Garry Tan and Sequoia Capital partner Ravi Gupta, are withdrawing from a major gathering of tech leaders after conference CEO Paddy Cosgrave made comments that appear to refer to Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Hamas-controlled Gaza as “war crimes.”

At least five speakers said they would no longer participate at the November Web Summit conference, which draws tens of thousands of founders and executives to Lisbon every year. Those announcing their withdrawal include Ori Goshen, co-founder of AI21, an Israel-based rival to OpenAI, and Keith Peiris, co-founder of AI startup Tome. The boycott exposes the widening fallout in the business world from terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel, which have forced hundreds of Israeli tech workers to the front lines and prompted Wall Street financiers to publicly criticize academic institutions they back for their positions on the war.

•Sequoia’s Gupta, YC’s Tan cancel speaking engagements

•Venture capitalists question Web Summit’s Qatar ties

•Web Summit’s Cosgrave had tweeted about Israel’s retaliation

Cosgrave on Friday expressed shock at the “rhetoric and actions of so many Western leaders & governments,” as Israel prepared to launch a ground invasion of Gaza. “War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are,” he wrote on X. Cosgrave also liked posts on X, the app formerly known as Twitter, that referred to the terrorist group’s killing of Israelis a week ago as “self-defence” and that said Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians. Later Monday, Cosgrave removed the liked posts.

Backlash to his comments was swift. On Monday, Y Combinator CEO Tan said on X that he was canceling his appearance at the Web Summit. Gil Dibner, founder of Angular Ventures, a VC firm based in Tel Aviv and London, also canceled his speaking commitment.

Cosgrave also is facing questions about his company’s association with Qatar, a U.S. military ally. Counterterrorism experts say it has also financed Hamas and it has hosted the terror group’s leaders, who operate a bureau in Qatar’s capital of Doha. Qatari officials maintain it only provides humanitarian aid.

Josh Kopelman, a Philadelphia-based partner at First Round Capital, posted a screenshot of a Sept. 5 email from Cosgrave indicating Web Summit had partnered with Qatar for a conference titled “Web Summit Qatar,” planned for February 2024. Web Summit first announced the conference in April, according to a spokesperson for the conference, choosing Doha after receiving bids from several cities across the Middle East.

In the email, Cosgrave noted Qatar is interested in backing venture funds as a limited partner and offered to introduce the First Round partner to Qatari officials. Kopelman, who declined the offer in the published email, did not have further comment, according to a firm representative.

Founders Fund partner Keith Rabois said on X that he would refuse to work with anyone who speaks at the Web Summit event in Qatar. Flexport CEO and Founders Fund Partner Ryan Petersen, who was listed to speak at the Qatar event as of Monday morning, has withdrawn from the event to focus on customer relations at Flexport since returning as chief executive, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The backlash follows Hamas’ killing of 1,400 Israelis, including at a music festival and across numerous towns near Israel’s border with Gaza. Hamas also took nearly 200 Israelis and Americans hostage, including babies and young children. In response, Israel cut off electricity and water in Gaza and launched rocket attacks, leading to the deaths of more than 2,600 Palestinians, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.

The venture investors' responses reflect the intense reaction to views that blame Israel for its role in the conflict. Major Wall Street financiers, including Pershing Capital’s Bill Ackman and Citadel’s Ken Griffin, have criticized the elite universities they fund for not condemning student groups that blamed Israel for attacks carried out by Hamas.

Venture capitalists and startup founders in the U.S. with Palestinian ties privately expressed concern over the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But some said they were afraid to make those views public out of fear their comments would be misconstrued as supporting Hamas’ attacks, which they strongly condemned. “We feel terrified, in one of the most dangerously risky capital markets in history, to even risk speaking on a politically charged topic,” said a founder of a U.S. healthcare startup with family in Palestine.

A spokesperson for Web Summit said that the conference operator is talking to a number of companies about their attendance in November. In a statement, the spokesperson said that “we are saddened to hear that some Israelis in the tech community will no longer be attending Web Summit” and that they “regret any hurt caused and extend our deepest sympathies to everyone who has lost loved ones.” (The statement didn’t address the budding boycott against Web Summit among non-Israelis.)

“We want to reiterate our devastation for the loss of innocent life in Israel and Gaza. We strongly condemn the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israelis,” the statement said.

Since Cosgrave co-founded Web Summit in 2009 in Dublin, it has become a draw for global startup leaders to hobnob for a week of conference sessions and parties. Last year, it drew 71,000 attendees and featured speakers such as Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao and Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan.

The organization moved its annual flagship event to Lisbon a few years ago, and is planning a conference in Hong Kong. Cosgrave is a majority owner of Web Summit, but the conference has a board of directors, according to a spokesperson.