Shimon Samuels, the Paris representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said there was no organized "Jewish lobby" tracking the issue.
"I think it's going to be a very big deal," said Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster tracking the issue.
Heba Morayef, a researcher at Human Rights Watch tracking the issue, said the courts "have never had this kind of face-off before" with the generals.
Republican strategists said Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, and other White House officials have also been tracking the issue closely and have no doubt influenced Mr. Bush's response.
The bank was a small player in the sector, representing about $78 million in bonds and loan financing for such companies from 2008 to April of this year, according to data compiled by the Rainforest Action Network, an environmental group tracking the issue.
Another person who is tracking the issue is Steve Hutkins, a New York University professor whose Web site, Save the Post Office, attempts, among other things, to map the sale and possible sale of the buildings.
But people tracking the issue say there are enough examples to suggest the policies are becoming more mainstream, and in some states courts have upheld the legality of refusing to employ smokers.
The Roosevelt Islander blog, which has been tracking the issue, has questioned whether vendors will be willing to pay the required $345-a-month 345-a-month 345-a-monthon to other New York City vending charges and licenses.
"It's practically Mission Impossible to go directly to Miami," said an American official who is tracking the issue but did not have approval to speak on the record about it.
