The Tourism Ministry has replaced a picture of the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea with a picture of Masada following a complaint from the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ASA complained that the Qumran caves were part of the territory occupied by Jordan between 1948 and 1967, and therefore not a part of Israel. The pictures should not be included in a campaign to promote tourism to Israel, the ASA ruled.
ASA officials rebuked the Tourism Ministry for failing to respond quickly to its complaint. Tourism Ministry officials said over the weekend that they had not intended to mislead viewers into thinking the caves were located in Israeli territory.