Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are on their way to Washington, DC to resume peace talks here on Monday night.  It’s the first time that the two have held direct talks since 2010.

After weeks of preparations, US Secretary of State John Kerry called Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to formally invite them to send their negotiating teams.

The last obstacle to resuming peace talks was cleared earlier on Sunday when the Israeli cabinet voted to approve the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners.  Most of the prisoners had already served 20 years or more for attacks on Israelis.

The first meetings will be to establish a framework on which future substantive negotiations will be held.