So we should write fiid and niid then? In German, if you wanted a word that's pronounced like the English need, you'd write nied.
Anyhow, just removing the second e without replacement would not help in knowing how to pronounce the word by reading it.
It's not silent, but in the wrong place. Haet would be more correct, as it changes the pronunciation from [hæt] to [heɪt]. Hait might be an even better way to write it (see also: bait, maid, laid etc.)
English is a weird language.