The Israeli Knesset (parliament) authorized a bill Monday afternoon allowing international companies to pay reduced tax rates if they promise to invest half of their profits in Israel.

The law, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz stand behind, is also known as the "locked profits law."

It was passed with 38 Knesset members voting for it and 21 against it. However, the law has caused a stir among left-wing and social justice activists, who protested the control of the tycoons (several wealthy families) over the Israeli market.

International companies in Israel have up until now enjoyed tax breaks on condition that they pay back the money they've made in Israel.

However, if the companies chose to take their profits outside of Israel's borders, the companies would have to pay a tax rate of 25 percent on their revenues. The law is therefore termed the " locked revenues" law.

The new law is expected to enable companies to unfreeze much of their revenue and get a larger tax break. The tax rate could be as low as to only 6 percent of the revenues.

In response to the law's authorization, several young activists who were active in last year's social justice protests are arranging a Saturday protest, hoping to revive the movement and perhaps influence the upcoming Jan. 22 elections.

The upcoming elections have been moved ahead of their planned date in October because Netanyahu could not pass the 2013 budget, which included 6.83 billion dollars in cuts, specifically in social welfare services.

Last year, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to protest the high costs of living in the country, the close connection between tycoons and government officials and the monopoly of a few families on the Israeli market.

Recent polls have shown that social-economic issues would be at the core for the upcoming elections and parties from left and right have been vowing to make Israel "less expensive to live in" if voted into the next Knesset.