Stagwell has postponed an annual promotional and networking event in London called The Festival of Stagwell that was to be held on Sept. 10. 

The postponement followed reports of work that the company is doing for the Israeli government designed to help burnish the country’s image in the wake of criticism about its conduct of the war against Hamas. 

Stagwell faced some backlash after a report about the work was published by Drop Site News, although the company later responded that its agencies work across the political and issue spectrum and that the work for Israel didn’t reflect a shift in that approach. 

The holding company’s London office issued a statement citing safety concerns and an atmosphere that wasn’t conducive to holding the event. The company had promoted the event on its LinkedIn site last month although the posting was recently taken down.