Unlike milkhemet reshut wars, which tended to be fought to expand territory or for economic reasons and had exemption clauses, milhemet mitzvah tended to be invoked in defensive wars, when vital interests were at risk.
[5] Modern scholars also suggested that Mitzvah Wars originally signified a religious act.
[6] Questions about the halakhic justification for war again arise in modern times in connection to military operations of, and service in, the Israel Defense Forces.
Hence, the dispute over the terms with accordance to modern times coincides with the question what is Israel's role in the Arab–Israeli Conflict.
On the other hand, large portions of the Israeli society are secular and do not think about the current conflict in these religious categories or use these historical terms.