 The Rabbinate control also means that there are 400,000 Russians who have moved to Israel, many who are Jewish, who are not permitted to marry in Israel, forcing many to travel overseas to marry.However, Israel does have a legal framework for civil unions, which has the same legal standing as marriage, therefore someone who does marry outside of the Rabbinate can have their union recognized by the state.This same mechanism has been used for same sex unions, even though there is no legal same sex marriage in Israel.