Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the UN General Assembly in New York tonight.

Before he left home he sent a letter to Israeli citizens.

In it he  castigated the UN delegates who chose to remain in the  Assembly hall as Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke there earlier in the day, saying – “On the eve of Yom Kippur, a day  the Jewish people hold sacred, the Iranian dictator chose to call for our disappearance in public, with the entire world watching. This is a black day for those who chose to remain in the hall and hear these hateful words. In my speech before the representatives of nations at the UN General Assembly, they will hear our response.

Canadian diplomats boycotted the speech.  Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the Harper government joined other countries  in refusing to listen to the Iranian leader’s trademark political vitriol.