The United States wants its rare earth supply to be independent of\nChina. However, Washington\u2019s support for Israel has triggered opposition\nto a USD 96 million trade agreement in Malaysia. In March 2026, the US\nDepartment of Defense signed a four-year deal with Australian mining\ncompany Lynas to extract 17 rare earth elements. These elements are\ncentral to modern industrial production and are used in everything from\nsmartphones and electric vehicles to advanced weapons systems. This\nstrategic US-Lynas agreement hinges on Lynas\u2019 main processing plant in\nGebeng, a densely populated industrial town on the east coast of\npeninsular Malaysia. The Gebeng plant is the largest rare earth\nprocessing facility outside of China.<\/p>\n
News of the deal sparked a strong reaction in Malaysia, which has a\nlong history of championing Palestinian independence and strongly\ncondemns Israel over military operations in Gaza and the West Bank. The\npublic has urged the government in Kuala Lumpur to block the Lynas\nagreement or provide guarantees that the rare earths processed at the\nGebeng plant will not be used in any weaponry. In an open letter to\nMalaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, more than 50 non-governmental\ngroups stated that the deal risks implicating Malaysia in serious\naccusations of international law violations in various regions,\nincluding Gaza, while highlighting the US as a primary arms supplier to\nIsrael.<\/p>\n
However, the link between Malaysian rare earths and Israeli weaponry\nis not straightforward. While the raw materials can be used to make\nfighter jets and missiles, they can also end up in washing machines or\nwind turbines. Thomas Kruemmer, director of Singapore-based rare earth\nmarket firm Ginger International Trade and Investment, told DW that what\nthe Malaysian protesters are demanding is equivalent to banning the\nexport of natural rubber to the US because the tyres might be used on\nIsraeli vehicles in Gaza. Lynas is key to supplying dysprosium and\nterbium. A parliamentary committee held a hearing last week to determine\nwhether the Lynas project would jeopardise Malaysia\u2019s reputation as a\nstaunch supporter of Palestine. The Anwar administration has until the\nend of the month to state its official position on the deal. For\nMalaysians, this is not really about rare earths, it is about Palestine,\nKruemmer said.<\/p>\n
Activists hope to use the Gebeng refinery as a lever to influence US\ngeopolitical calculations. The US rival, China, currently dominates the\nworld\u2019s rare earth mining and processing and has restricted exports of\nthese materials to the West. Furthermore, according to Kruemmer,\nAustralia\u2019s Lynas is one of the few companies capable of providing\ncommercial quantities of two specific rare earth elements: dysprosium\nand terbium. He noted that the flagship US rare earth investment\nproject, the MP Materials\u2019 Mountain Pass mine in California, has very\nlittle of these two elements. With China halting exports of rare earths\ndestined for military applications, Lynas is currently the only\navailable source for the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Given the current scarcity of rare earth supply options outside of\nChina, the US government is investing in several projects both\ndomestically and abroad. However, these projects could take years before\nthey become operational, according to Meredith Schwartz, a researcher at\nthe Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Pentagon needs a\nguaranteed supply if China continues to deny access, making it a\nnational security imperative. This makes active projects like the Lynas\nrare earth processing plant in Malaysia highly strategic for the United\nStates. Australia\u2019s abundant mineral reserves and mining expertise make\nit crucial to Washington\u2019s plan to break China\u2019s monopoly on rare\nearths. Schwartz described the Lynas processing plant in Malaysia, which\nsources raw materials from Australia, as a key point in the\nmine-to-magnet supply chain.<\/p>\n
The announcement of the deal published by Lynas in March did not\nspecify whether the materials sold to the US Department of Defense would\nbe used for weapons. However, given that the contract was specifically\nwith the Department of Defense, Kruemmer said it is highly likely. If\nthe materials were not intended for defence purposes, the Pentagon would\nnot have signed the contract, as they do not care about Ford Motor\u2019s\nelectric cars or Whirlpool kitchen appliances. Neither Lynas nor the US\nDepartment of Defense responded to requests for comment. Foreign mining\ncompanies face a practical need to gain the trust of local communities\nregarding their operations, Schwartz said. This is a major challenge for\nrare earth projects in Malaysia, where a Japanese-backed venture in the\n1980s left behind pools of radioactive waste, an unavoidable byproduct\nof rare earth mining and refining. The waste has been blamed for a range\nof genetic defects, cancers, and deaths in the area. Lynas has also been\npersistently questioned about its handling of radioactive waste.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/israel-factor-hinders-us-rare-earth-metals-project-in-malaysia-1784695980", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }