WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge is explaining her decision to order D.C.'s public transit system to display pro-Israel ads that equate Muslim radicals with savages.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer said in an opinion released Friday that she understood the safety concerns voiced by Metro officials who delayed putting up the advertisements in stations, especially in light of the violent reaction in the Middle East to an online video that denigrated the prophet Muhammad.

But the judge said Metro officials were "too open-ended" in delaying the ads and failed to consider alternatives that would have been less restrictive. She said Metro could have agreed to place the ads in a less visible location than Metro platforms.

The ads went up in several Metro stations this week.