Netanyahu - Lapid truce meeting expected

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid will meet in upcoming days to settle their dispute over the 2015 state budget and Lapid’s zero-percent VAT housing proposal, sources close to the two men said Tuesday.Tension between the two escalated following reports Monday that Netanyahu had frozen efforts to legislate the housing proposal. It became clear on Tuesday that the prime minister was unaware of the freeze, and that Lapid had not expected the plan to pass until after the Jewish holidays end next month.“The gaps can be bridged to reach an agreement,” a source close to Lapid said.Lapid himself continued talking tough publicly, telling reporters in Ashkelon that he would leave his post if asked to raise taxes.In an interview with Ynet on Tuesday, Lapid called the reports about freezing the zero-percent housing plan “an attempt to make political spin out of something serious.”