The Ireland-based technology conferencing company, Web Summit, says "only a very small number" of people have cancelled plans to attend their upcoming event in Lisbon, despite an open letter being published in which 300 Israeli entrepreneurs called for a boycott.
In a statement, it told Prime Time that thousands of new tickets were sold this week.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that German Economy Minister Robert Habeck cancelled his scheduled appearance, in the wake of the open letter.
The company has been struggling to deal with the biggest controversy in its history which forced the resignation of its CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, and resulted in unwanted global attention, in particular, from Jewish and Israeli people working in the technology industry.
Israel-based entrepreneur Yehuda Bruner had made arrangements to attend next week's Web Summit in Lisbon. Like others, he changed his mind after Mr Cosgrave - who remains the majority owner of the company – posted messages on social media which sparked the controversy.
In the posts on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Cosgrave accused Israel of war crimes over its response to the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
"All of us, all the industry, was so shocked. I know that some are still going there, but so many cancelled their participation," Mr Bruner, founder and CEO of HeritageCube, a personal data cloud storage company, told Prime Time.
Some have even called for a boycott not just of the Web Summit, but of those invited to address the gathering, which had been expected to attract around 70,000 people.
The controversy erupted six days after the 7 October Hamas attacks in which over 1,400 people were killed in Israel and around 240 people taken hostage, including women and children.
By then, the death toll from Israel’s bombing campaign in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza had risen to around 2,000, including hundreds of women and children.
A message Mr Cosgrave posted on X about the response of Western leaders to the Israeli campaign concluded "war crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies, and should be called out for what they are".
Web Summit, which is also hosting an events in Qatar in February - and Mr Cosgrave personally - immediately found themselves facing a major backlash.
"Even though that [opinion] is not that far outside the mainstream here in Ireland, it is very much outside the mainstream in the US and particularly in Israel," said Irish and Sunday Independent’s Technology Editor, Adrian Weckler.
He noted that President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had "more or less, suggested the same thing, although in a far more nuanced way and balanced way".
The suggestion of any proximity between the actions of Hamas and those of the Israeli military sparked rage in Israel, a country known for its vibrant tech start-ups and investment, the very market for Mr Cosgrave’s Web Summit.
"None of our soldiers would go into Gaza and brutally rape, murder and kidnap children ... We don't burn babies … We don't do that," Mr Bruner said.
"Of course, people get killed when there's a war. I'm sorry, but people, even if they are not involved may be killed."
Two days after his war-crimes post, as the controversy gained momentum, Mr Cosgrave posted again on X. This time, he explicitly condemned the Hamas attacks but he doubled down on his accusation that Israel was breaking the law.
"First, what Hamas did is outrageous and disgusting. It is by every measure an act of monstrous evil. Israel has a right to defend itself, but it does not, as I have already stated, have a right to break international law," he said.
The following day, the Israeli Ambassador to Portugal said he would not be attending Web Summit, which is held in Lisbon.
Mr Cosgrave posted again. "To repeat: War crimes are war crimes even when committed by allies & should be called out for what they are. I will not relent."
At 9am the next morning, 17 October, Mr Cosgrave posted screenshots of messages of support he had received, adding "I’m proud of what I have repeatedly stated."
Around 1.30pm that day he issued an apology for his statements and resigned as CEO of Web Summit.
Referring to his posts on X, Mr Cosgrave said in his resignation statement, "I apologise deeply. What is needed at this time is compassion, and I did not convey that."
By then Web Summit was losing high-profile sponsors, including Google and Meta.
A new CEO, Katherine Maher, has replaced him. However, Paddy Cosgrave still owns 81% of the company that operates the highly profitable Web Summit, according to the most recently filed documents at the Companies Registration Office.
If Web Summit "does well, he stands to do well," noted science and technology journalist, Elaine Burke.
Prime Time asked Web Summit whether its board had asked Paddy Cosgrave to sell his stake in the company, which employs over 190 people in Ireland. It responded saying "the executive team and independent board are focused on the event in Lisbon not on questions of ownership".
The controversy continues to consume the company, and to some extent the global conferencing industry. For some, Mr Cosgrave’s shareholding remains key.
"He's still a major shareholder," Mr Bruner said, "so he may not do the operational work of the CEO, but if he is a stakeholder, then I'm going to stay away from this company. And by the way, I know that I'm not alone."
Paul Murphy and Aaron Heffernan's report on the recent Web Summit controversy features in the Thursday 9 November edition of Prime Time, broadcast on RTÉ One television at 9.35pm.
