I think it's the place not the dress.
I got no problems with bikini photos, but I think I'd have qualms about a bikini shoot at the Wailing Wall.... Similarly, Catholics might have problems with a bikini shot at the Vatican or St. Patrick's cathedral.
I doubt that Jews or Catholics would riot about this, however -- and I note that the Buddhists didn't either.
The monks however did deliver a stern morals lecture much as you'd expect a priest or rabbi to do in the same situation.