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Israel's outgoing ambassador to the United Nations said Monday that the most significant threat to the Jewish state is not Iran, but efforts to delegitimize Israel and its leaders.

"Israel is the most isolated, lonely country in the world," Gabriela Shalev told reporters in Washington at a luncheon sponsored by the Israel project.

Ms. Shalev, who will leave her post on Aug. 31, said the "first challenge" Israel faced was the campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state, a campaign she said has taken the form of lawsuits brought against Israeli officials in European courts, and unfair attention paid to Israeli misdeeds within the U.N. and its various committees.

She said the other major challenges for Israel included the threat from Iran as both a potential nuclear power and a leading sponsor of terrorism, as well as the lack of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. But because from her perspective the international community is acting to pressure Iran with the latest sanctions resolution at the United Nations, the biggest threat to Israel now is the campaign to question Israel's right to exist and defend itself.