 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.The categories of "milhemet mitzvah" and "milhemet reshut" were applied by the later rabbis to describe wars that place in earlier times, led by or against the kings of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.The "milhemet reshut" has not been applied or used since then; because the Jewish people have neither a king nor universally recognized Sanhedrin, there is no religious authority to authorize a "milhemet reshut".